With supply chain delays easing, construction workers at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery have been installing the steel frames that will hold the glass curtain wall in the three-story, semi-transparent Jeffrey E. Gundlach Building being erected along Elmwood Avenue.
Across the campus, the steel frame for “Common Sky,” the sculptural canopy being installed at the 1962 Seymour H. Knox Building is being welded together, sanded and painted. The glazing, which includes translucent and reflective glass for a kaleidoscopic effect, is expected to be completed in July.
A worker is dwarfed by the intricately patterned steel frame of “Common Sky” designed by Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson and German architect Sebastian Behmann of Studio Other Spaces, which is under construction at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. The glass canopy will cover a 6,000-square-foot civic space where an enclosed courtyard used to be.
Those are the most visible changes now occurring on the Albright-Knox campus after slowed construction due to the supply chain issues forced the time frame for completion to change from this fall to the first half of 2023.
“The campus of the future Buffalo AKG Art Museum is really going to take shape this summer,” said Jamie Robideau, the museum’s director of facilities planning and management, referring to the name of the museum that will be used when the facility reopens. “All major elements of the project are now happening simultaneously.”
People are also reading…
About 60% of the glass for the new Gundlach Building is in Western New York, with the remainder in transport or still to be fabricated. The building, designed by Shohei Shigematsu, allows the museum to more than double its exhibition space. An indoor sculpture terrace will encircle the main galleries, providing a 360-degree wraparound view of the surrounding landscape.
On the grounds in front of the museum, the underground parking garage is near completion and will be covered in the coming months with a half-acre of lawn.
The sculptural canopy for the 1962 Knox Building that will cover 6,042 square feet of community space was assembled in Germany, taken apart and shipped across the Atlantic for reassembly and installation.
Workers in a giant lift guide a piece of steel into place as the curtain wall surrounding the new Gundlach Building under construction at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery on Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
Over the coming months, a terrazzo floor will be installed in the Knox Building, which will house a restaurant, five classrooms and 2,000 square feet of exhibition space.
In the 1905 Robert and Elisabeth Wilmers Building, wood floors are being installed in most of the galleries, replacing the less durable red marble that was damaged over time.
Many of the marble tiles were damaged because marble cracks under weight, Robideau said. With modern art becoming progressively heavier, in addition to the weight of the machines used to install it, the change was necessary, he said. The white and green marble in the sculpture court will be restored.
The frame for the John J. Albright Bridge connecting the Gundlach Building with the Wilmers Building is under construction, with concrete expected to be poured later this summer. The walls will be glass and the ceiling illuminated with a lighting panel.
“As visitors traverse the Albright bridge, they will enjoy new views of Jaume Plensa’s sculpture ‘Laura,’ the Wilmers Building, Hoyt Lake and the Gundlach Building,” Robideau said.
The bridge will allow an ADA-compliant path for visitors to move between buildings without going outside, and improve the museum’s ability to handle and transport valuable artwork. Roof, masonry and drainage repairs to the building are being finished, with plans to re-create the grand staircase later this summer.
All of the exterior work should be done by fall, Robideau said, with interior work completed over the winter months, leaving landscaping as the last step of the project.
Funding concerns were allayed last month when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $20 million in the state budget to cover the added expenses that arose from the construction delays and price increases.
Janne Siren, the museum’s director, led a fundraising campaign that met the earlier projected cost of $168 million, $65 million of it from Gundlach.
Mark Sommer covers preservation, development, the waterfront, culture and more. He’s also a former arts editor at The News.
