Swiss architecture firm Herzog de & Meuron has unveiled Calder Gardens, a new artistic oasis in Philadelphia. 

Calder Gardens, a brand-new cultural landmark honoring Alexander Calder's artwork, opened to the public on September 21. 

The 1.8-acre property, which is situated on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway between 21st and 22nd Streets, was created to envelop guests in an environment that inspires introspection and rejuvenation while emphasizing the interaction of art, architecture, and landscape—an open invitation to interpretation and exploration.

Calder Gardens is a unique collaboration between the Barnes Foundation, which provides operational and administrative support through a creative resource-sharing model, and the Calder Foundation, which provides the curatorial vision. 

Piet Oudolf, a well-known Dutch landscape designer, designed the site's gardens and meadows, which include both native and perennial plants.

Photograph by Iwan Baan. Artwork by Alexander Calder © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Unlike conventional museums

The Pritzker Prize-winning team Herzog & de Meuron created the building, which has a gently curved shape, a subdued wood south front, and a softly shimmering metal-clad north facade that evokes Calder's own bohemian Connecticut home. 

Visitors can see a variety of Calder pieces both indoors and out in this environment where architecture and nature coexist. Over time, the artwork on show will evolve to include rarely viewed masterpieces, some of which will be seen by the public for the first time.

Unlike conventional museums, Calder Gardens offers an intimate and ever-evolving encounter with the works of renowned artist Alexander Calder, marrying art with nature and the urban landscape.

Photograph by Iwan Baan. Artwork by Alexander Calder © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Calder Gardens is located in Philadelphia, the birthplace of Calder and the home of generations of his creative family, at the junction of the Vine Street Expressway and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Previously tainted by the obtrusive presence of metropolitan roads, this central location has evolved into a thriving cultural destination that welcomes guests to interact with art in a novel way.

Traditional museum architecture, which may be intimidating and isolating, is avoided in Calder Gardens' design. Rather, it has a verdant garden setting surrounded by a characteristic tapering metal wall that reduces the sound of the adjacent roadway. This creative wall serves as the background for a public garden that resembles a meadow, luring guests into a number of secret areas rather than a colossal building.

Photograph by Tom Powel Imaging © Calder Gardens. Artwork by Alexander Calder © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

A huge center disk that serves as a plaza and a roof for the galleries below greets visitors as they approach the entrance. Calder Gardens offers covered locations for Calder's sculptures while allowing natural light to enter the galleries through tastefully planned outdoor sections like the circular "Sunken Garden" and the lengthy "Vestige Garden."

The little, barn-like structure itself complements the landscape and highlights the peace and beauty of the garden. In contrast to the frequently large and impersonal entrances of typical museums, the lobby's interior displays a warm, domestic scale. It provides a captivating prelude to the immersive encounter that is yet to come.

A major cultural site in Philadelphia, Calder Gardens invites a new generation of tourists to discover the relationship between art, architecture, and nature while preserving the city's artistic heritage. As the project develops, it should be a vibrant environment that fosters innovation and keeps changing to strengthen the bond between Calder's artistic vision and the general public.

Photograph by Iwan Baan. Artwork by Alexander Calder © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Visitors and art lovers may anticipate a brand-new exhibition area that will highlight the creations of well-known artist Alexander Calder. This distinctive location boasts a carefully planned design that improves the viewing experience while blending in perfectly with the surroundings.

A magnificent stairway that leads from the entrance into the "Highway Gallery" greets guests as they enter the room. In addition to serving as a social gathering space, this amazing building also functions as a small auditorium and offers stunning views of the surrounding city and highway. Visitors can enjoy Calder's famous mobile artwork from a higher altitude from this mezzanine level. 

With a beam dividing the Tall Gallery from the space beneath the disk, the design makes creative use of available space. The journey of the visitor is made more intriguing by a little opening above the beam that provides a glimpse of the gallery below.

The 'Cuboid' stair, which descends deeper, is made of black, rough concrete and leads to the vestige-like areas of the outside garden and ground level. In addition to providing a passageway, this stair gives Calder's works more places to be shown.

Visitors enter the daylight-filled 'Open Plan exhibition' located beneath the disc after they reach the main exhibition level. Echoing the disk above, the gallery's distinctive geometry includes orthogonal layouts to the east and west and curves towards the north. A sizable window that connects the interior area to the tranquil garden outside, the Vestige Garden, welcomes natural light.

Photograph by Iwan Baan. Artwork by Alexander Calder © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

In addition, the 'Apse Gallery' features two offset curving walls that remove obvious edges, making it possible to examine the work on show without being distracted. When combined, the Open Plan and Apse galleries offer a flexible space for exhibiting Calder's small and big pieces, enabling spectators to view them from different perspectives.

The link between the Open Plan Gallery and the "Curved Gallery" is one of this creative space's most notable elements. The Curved Gallery provides a more private, inwardly focused setting, ideal for showcasing Calder's light-sensitive sculptures, historical items, and family artwork, whilst the former features a light-filled, spacious atmosphere with views outside. To further enhance the experience of viewing Calder's artwork, the Sunken Garden, which is situated in the center of this area, will feature a dramatic stabile against a curved wall that is lushly planted.

This unique exhibition space not only displays Calder's tremendous legacy but also reflects a commitment to architectural innovation and smart design. In an environment that brings Calder's vision to life, visitors are invited to investigate and interact with the artwork.

Photograph by Tom Powel Imaging © Calder Gardens. Artwork by Alexander Calder © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

"In this unique commission in Philadelphia —from the site, to the open brief, to our design process—I focused on space over form, leading me to explore below-grade areas and discover the defining spaces of the structure," said Jacques Herzog. 

"Calder Gardens embodies a kind of ‘no-design’ architecture, allowing the works of art to express their diversity and ambiguity across numerous different spatial contexts. It’s a place where you can sit, wander, and observe, whether it’s nature or art, with the ease one has when one sits under a tree," Herzog added.

Drawing by Jacques Herzog. April 15, 2020. Image courtesy of 2025 Calder Foundation

"Calder Gardens is the result of an extraordinary collaboration. Together with the Calder Foundation, the Barnes Foundation and our many partners on the design and construction team, we developed a project that responds both to the surrounding context and to Calder’s artistic legacy with a design that has its own specific identity," said Jason Frantzen.

"It is both an actual and a conceptual garden that offers a space for all Philadelphian’s and visitors alike to discover Calder’s work again and again," Frantzen added.

Drawing by Jacques Herzog. April 15, 2020. Image courtesy of 2025 Calder Foundation

Vestiges

The interior plan geometry and garden design both reflect the site's historical characteristics. The underground plan's kinked boundary is established by an offset of a nearby water main. The Vestige Garden's geometry is influenced by remnants of the old city grid foundations that existed before the Parkway. 

A "Quasi Gallery" is a covered outdoor area that resembles a cave and serves as a mediator between the exposed garden areas outside and the tightly regulated gallery spaces inside.

Drawing by Jacques Herzog. May 2, 2020. Image courtesy of 2025 Calder Foundation

When combined, these areas inspire curators to present Calder's diverse body of work in novel and surprising ways. Instead than offering a traditional gallery experience, it gives a space for concentration and reflection as well as a spatial sequence. As soon as you enter Calder Gardens, a world begins to emerge.

A brand-new art center called Calder Gardens honors Alexander Calder (1898–1976), one of the most well-known and significant 20th-century painters. 

In addition to celebrating the artist's lasting legacy, this institution acts as a hub for interaction between art, architecture, nature, and other programs, encouraging introspection and self-discovery.

Herzog & de Meuron released the first images of the project to carve out a new museum in the underground of the Calder Gardens in Philadelphia in 2022. In addition, the firm also works on the tansformation of the former Eames Institute Birkenstock Campus into a museum in Novato, California. Moreover, the studio won an architectural competition to design an art storage in Seoul, South Korea. 

The top image in the article: Photograph by Iwan Baan. Artwork by Alexander Calder © 2025 Calder Foundation, New York / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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