6. September 2024
Preliminary concept design for the future Las Vegas Museum of Art (Visualization: Kéré Architecture)
Details have been announced for the proposed Las Vegas Museum of Art (LVMA), the first major art museum for the “City of Lights.” Planned for a site in Symphony Park, the museum is being designed by Francis Kéré, recipient of the 2022 Pritzker Architecture Prize.
To be accurate, the planned LVMA is not the first ever art museum in Las Vegas. Astute architects probably remember the Hermitage Guggenheim, which was designed by OMA and was embedded into the Venetian Resort Hotel. As the name indicates, that small museum was a collaboration between the State Hermitage Museum and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, with exhibitions pulling artworks from both institutions. The Hermitage Guggenheim opened in October 2001 but then closed in May 2008 and was subsequently demolished, replaced by a Louis Vuitton store.
Hopes are surely more optimistic for the considerably larger, standalone LVMA, though similarities between it and the defunct Hermitage Guggenheim can be found in LVMA's own collaboration: Per a statement, LVMA is being developed in partnership with the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), which will enable the new museum to “borrow artworks, mount exhibitions, adapt educational programs, and draw from LACMA’s extensive professional expertise, enabling it to operate at the highest level from its inception.”
The future museum will be located in Symphony Park, a former rail yard in downtown Las Vegas that is being developed as a mixed-use cultural district. The area is already home to The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, Discovery Children's Museum, and the Frank Gehry-designed Keep Memory Alive Event Center. The 90,000-square-foot (8,361-m2) museum will be built on a 1.5-acre (6,070-m2) site at the intersection of Symphony Park Avenue and City Parkway that is currently a surface parking lot and is being donated to the museum by the City of Las Vegas.
Existing conditions in Symphony Park, same view as the rendering above (Photo: Google Maps)
While only one teaser image accompanied this week's announcement that the Las Vegas City Council has approved detailed plans for the museum, Francis Kéré, founder of Kéré Architecture, provided a few words: “Our design blends the beauty of the desert environment with local building principles and the passion and collaborative spirit of the Las Vegas Museum of Art to create a space where dreams come to life. It is a tremendous honor, and a highlight of my professional journey, to create a space that will bring art and joy to the residents who call Las Vegas home.”
Furthermore, the museum will have two stories of exhibition space elevated above a “vibrant” open plaza and adjacent sculpture park. Kéré's design conceptualizes the plaza as a “front porch” meant to foster an “inclusive environment where public amenities can intertwine with community events, ultimately enhancing Symphony Park’s character as a neighborhood and cultural destination.”
No anticipated construction start or planned opening date was included with the announcement, though the New York Times reports that the museum, “expected to cost $150 million, hopes to open in 2028.”