OMA-designed Albright Knox Museum's historic AK360 Campus development and expansion project has broken ground in Buffalo, New York. 

Called Buffalo Albright-Knox-Gundlach Art Museum, the project, led by OMA New York Partner Shohei Shigematsu, will be an ambitious campus development for the Albright Knox Gallery.

OMA released its first design for the museum in 2018, then the firm revised plans for the final version of the building, which now features more light and open structure. 

The new plans will double the number of masterworks the museum can display and will also provide state-of-the-art space for presenting special exhibitions. 

Wrapped by a faceted transparent skin, the project will enhance the visitor experience at the museum, creating more space for education, dining, and social activities, while better integrating the campus to the landscape of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Delaware Park.

In a latest news by OMA, Jeffrey Gundlach, Buffalo has been announced as the native and leading donor to the AK360 project, and delivered an additional gift of $10 million towards the AK360 Capital Campaign, bringing his total gift to $62.5 million.

AK360 is intimately tied to Buffalo’s twenty-first-century renaissance. The name of the project reflects the fact that this will be the third time the museum has grown in the course of its history, each time at intervals of approximately 60 years (in 1905 with its first permanent home and in 1962 with its last expansion). 

The name also represents the museum’s response to feedback from the community and its goal to take a 360-degree view of its growth that goes far beyond operational needs and embraces its unique position in the region and its potential to contribute to Western New York’s ongoing resurgence.

"The Albright-Knox has a long tradition of honoring the visionary philanthropists who guided this institution, all of whom have embraced the pursuit of the new, the groundbreaking and the beautiful," said Alice Jacobs, Albright-Knox Board President. 

"Today, I am privileged to share that we continue this tradition with the new name, the Buffalo Albright-Knox-Gundlach Art Museum, to be known as the Buffalo AKG. My heartfelt thanks to Jeffrey Gundlach, whose transformational gift allowed us to realize a vision for the campus as inspiring as the art it will house."

"I would also like to thank the entire Board of Directors for their tireless work in bringing us to this moment, as well as Shohei Shigematsu, a brilliant artist and architectural partner," Jacobs added.

"The Buffalo AKG Art Museum will provide much needed space for the institution's great collection. It is designed to enhance connections between art and people, park and museum, and existing and new," said Shohei Shigematsu, Partner, OMA. 

"Its porosity and transparency evoke the museum's openness and ambition to be first and foremost a place for the community. I would like to thank Janne and his team, as well as the Board of Directors and the AK360 Project Committee for their vision, support, and collaboration."

"We are thrilled to contribute to the rich architectural history of Buffalo, which would not have been possible without an ongoing dialogue with the local communities and constituencies," Shigematsu added. 

The Albright-Knox's Elmwood Avenue campus is temporarily closed for construction. Albright-Knox Northland, a new project space at 612 Northland Avenue, will open on January 17, 2020. 

The new Buffalo AKG Art Museum is expected to open in 2022 on the Elmwood Avenue campus.

All images courtesy of OMA

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