Expanding the Nelson-Atkins
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, working with Malcolm Reading Consultants, has revealed concept designs by six finalists in its two-stage competition to expand the Kansas City, Missouri institution. Take a look at renderings showing how Kengo Kuma, Renzo Piano, Jeanne Gang, and others envision the museum's future.
The images released today are the latest part of a process that began last year, first with news of the design competition then the announcement of the six finalists culled from 182 entrants in the competition's first phase. As a reminder, here is a list of the six finalists, in alphabetical order:
- Kengo Kuma & Associates (Tokyo)
- Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Genoa)
- Selldorf Architects (New York)
- Studio Gang (Chicago)
- Weiss/Manfredi Architecture (New York)
- WHY Architecture (Los Angeles)
The project will be the first expansion of the Nelson-Atkins since 2007 and the Bloch Building designed by Steven Holl Architects. Holl's design famously departed from that competition's brief, which mandated the expansion to the north of the museum's 1933 neoclassical building, by placing the new building to the east. Accordingly, we have been eagerly anticipating how the finalists would address the site for the latest expansion—where would they place the addition? Two of the teams place the addition on the south, facing the museum's cherished Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park; one places it to the west, balancing the earlier Bloch Building; and three schemes are hybrids, if you will, with elements on both the south and east sides of the 1933 building.
Below are renderings and model photos that illustrate the concept designs, accompanied by texts supplied by the architects. Competition boards can be viewed in an online gallery on the website of Malcolm Reading Consultants, while visitors to the museum can see the free exhibition The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Building Belonging: Designing the future of the Nelson-Atkins between March 15 and June 1, 2025. The public is invited to share feedback on the concept designs via an online form on the museum website. World-Architects will share news of the winner when it is announced.
Kengo Kuma & Associates
“Drawing from the Midwest’s prairies, riverbeds, and limestone bluffs, River / Stone weaves art, people, and landscape into a living cultural tapestry. Fluid pathways unite the 1933 Nelson Atkins Building, the Bloch Building, and a new expansion grounded by local materials and human-scaled gestures. Porches, covered passages, and terraces dissolve the form, encouraging spontaneous encounters and linking the museum with surrounding neighborhoods.”
“Locally sourced stone, sustainable timber, and expansive glass echo the land’s quiet rhythm, fostering warmth and transparency. Underscoring Kansas City’s geological heritage and communal spirit, River / Stone broadens accessibility for families, firsttime visitors, and longtime patrons alike.”
“Gently sloping routes and terraced landscapes reflect regional history, creating places for reflection, conversation, and cultural exchange. Through this harmonious approach, the new addition transforms the museum’s campus – building on its longstanding commitment to engagement, wonder, and inclusivity – where nature, architecture, and community flow seamlessly as a true ‘Museum for All.’”
- Kengo Kuma and Associates (Architect)
- The team is supported by GGN (Landscape Architecture)
- Endelman & Associates (Accessibility)
- Post Oak Preservation Solutions (Heritage)
- Art Processors (Exhibition and Experience design)
- Buro Happold (Structural/MEP/Lighting Engineering)
Renzo Piano Building Workshop
“Our proposal for the expansion of the Nelson-Atkins Museum seeks to reconcile past and present, forging a museum for all. The original Beaux-Arts building, with its classical symmetry and civic grandeur, now stands in quiet dialogue with Steven Holl’s luminous addition to the east. Our design tries to restore equilibrium – balancing the old with the new – through a pair of precise interventions to the north and south. The sweeping, monumental stairs, long a symbol of art’s inaccessibility, are transformed. In their place, an open threshold welcomes visitors of every background, dissolving the notion of art as a privilege reserved for the few. A transparent pavilion – light-filled and porous – erodes the boundary between institution and community, allowing the museum to breathe with the life of the city. Here, architecture becomes an act of invitation, transforming the Nelson-Atkins into a truly civic and accessible space, placed gently within the life of the city.”
- Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Architect)
- West 8 (Landscape Architecture)
- Arup (Sustainability, Structural/MEP/Lighting Engineering)
Selldorf Architects
“The original Nelson-Atkins building re-establishing itself as the central figure with a newly glazed Portico façade that signals activity and a new generosity of scale and spirit. Truly a Museum for All.”
“Our design seeks to strengthen the Nelson-Atkins Museum at all levels – to connect it more to its surroundings, to its landscape, to its history, to its visitors and wider public – bringing art to people.
“We wish to create a world-class inviting arrival experience where everyone feels welcome, where barriers to entry are dissolved literally and figuratively.”
“Our new West Building is a partner to the Nelson-Atkins and Bloch Buildings, completing and complementing the ensemble with openness, transparency and flexibility. Comprised of a series of volumes, the new building confidently holds the western edge of the site with inviting hospitality and artmaking spaces. Framing and activating the redesigned North Court the new building will energize the entirety of the Nelson-Atkins campus.”
- Selldorf Architects (Architect)
- Reed Hilderbrand (Landscape Architecture)
- Atelier Ten (Sustainability)
- Two Row Architect (Indigenous Consultant)
- Renfro Design Group (Lighting)
- Arup (MEP Engineering)
- Guy Nordenson & Associates (Structural Engineering)
- TYLin Silman (Structural Engineering)
Studio Gang
“Studio Gang’s design extends the edges of the Nelson-Atkins building with vibrant thresholds that merge the museum with the Sculpture Park and invite visitors into closer relationship with art and each other. Uniting inside and outside, the new architecture embodies the creative energy of connecting across differences.”
“Wherever visitors arrive, they’re immediately greeted with lively activity, transparency, and amenities that encourage them to stay and discover more. Accessible, inviting entrances extend inside to become convenient internal connections. ”
“At the south, the Art Bluff wing hosts the museum’s new exhibition, education, and social spaces. Its topographic design negotiates the site’s slope and bridges the different levels of the existing museum, helping people of all abilities easily get where they want to go. At the north, landscape enhancements and a café enliven the plaza, and the museum’s original entrance is reopened as a fully accessible front door.”
- Studio Gang (Architect)
- SCAPE (Landscape Architecture)
- Atelier Ten (Sustainability)
- JSA/MIXdesign (Inclusive Design)
- Snyder Consultancy (Cultural Strategy)
- Heritage Consulting Group (Heritage)
- Burns & McDonnell (Civil Engineering)
- Lam Partners (Lighting)
- Altieri (MEP Engineering)
- Thornton Tomasetti (Structural Engineering)
Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism
“A nexus of culture and community, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is treasured for its innovative programs and internationally recognized collection. The crisp forms of the existing buildings offer an elegant counterpoint to the landscape, yet their opacity conceals the vibrancy of the museum and precludes an invitation to the broader community.”
“Our design’s organic geometries shape the new west addition, and, with the expanded South Terrace, recenters the Cultural Campus around the treasured Sculpture Park. The newly accessible north entry frames a natural ecological landscape, and the rooftop addition amplifies a central entry.”
“Strategic renovations and luminous additions reinvigorate the elegant but fortified museum to signal a new transparency, both literal and philosophical. New and existing galleries, expanded spaces for education, performance, events, and dining all overlook the reimagined Sculpture Park. Here, new reciprocities – between architecture and landscape, art and ecology, invite the community to engage and create a new tapestry for the arts.”
- Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism (Architecture)
- SCAPE (Landscape Architecture)
- Atelier Ten (Sustainability)
- WeShouldDoItAll (Exhibition and Experience Design)
- Taliaferro & Browne (Civil Engineering)
- Jaros, Baum & Bolles (MEP Engineering)
- Severud Associates (Structural Engineering)
WHY Architecture
“Our expansion is more than an addition – it is an embrace. It wraps around three sides of the existing museum, creating new connections to the galleries, landscape, and city. This is not just about gaining space – it’s about unlocking the potential of what already exists, shaping a more welcoming, inclusive, and connected museum. A new entry pavilion ensures an intuitive, inclusive arrival while pathways link visitors to art, events, dining, and gardens. The new Sky Wing offers Kansas City’s most breathtaking cultural vantage point. The Photography Center, positioned at the intersection of The Nelson-Atkins building and Bloch addition, serves as a bridge between past and future, establishing photography as an anchor of the museum’s evolving curatorial vision. This museum can evolve, adapt, and grow with its audience. Every surface is a canvas, every space an opportunity, ensuring The Nelson-Atkins remains a place of discovery and wonder for generations.”
- WHY Architecture (Architecture)
- WILDING x WHY (Landscape Architecture)
- Atelier Ten (Sustainability)
- STRATA Architecture + Preservation (Heritage)
- Arup (MEP Engineering, Lighting)
- TYLin Silman (Structural Engineering)
