Robert Olnick Pavilion

The Robert Olnick Pavilion, designed by architects Alberto Campo Baeza and Miguel Quismondo, is an extension of the MagaZZino Museum, Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu's Museum of Italian Arte Povera in Cold Spring, New York.

The current MagaZZino is a superb building, designed and built by Miguel Quismondo. It had proven to be so resoundingly successful that it outgrew its size, which is why the Olnick Spanu family asked us to build this extension.

Nestled in a hillside on Magazzino’s campus, the new pavilion is located adjacent to the main building and mirrors the structure in its rectilinear design. With a concrete facade punctuated by windows and a series of skylights, the pavilion fosters a dialogue between art, architecture, and the surrounding natural landscape. The building adds nearly 3,600 square feet of new gallery space to the campus, including two natural light-filled galleries for special exhibitions on its main level and a third gallery on its lower floor for the display of Murano glass, and ceramics. 

The lower level also features a flexible, 1,500-square-foot programming space overlooking a sunken outdoor courtyard that enables the museum to host community programs year-round, including film screenings, lectures, panel discussions, and other educational and public events. On its top floor, which meets the ledge of the hilly terrain, a café and reading lounge with indoor and outdoor seating provide visitors the opportunity for a moment of respite.

Conceived to complement the existing museum building and reflect its elegant and simple modern design, the new pavilion brings a new dimension to the museum’s evolving campus. With strategically placed windows and skylights, the building introduces new opportunities for visitors to enjoy the beauty of the campus as it adds much needed space for the museum’s growing education and curatorial program and allows for the presentation of projects in new formats. This project reflects both the institution’s growth as well as Nancy and Giorgio’s belief and commitment to the Cold Spring community.

Special emphasis is placed on the main exhibit area, which is a white, cubic, isotropic space that will house temporary exhibitions and serve as a focal point of the museum. Isotropic space, as defined by the dictionary of the Royal Academy, has the same characteristics in all directions and from any point. If we could fly from the center, the space would be identical in all directions.

So in that cubic, white and isotropic space, 10x10x10m, at each corner, we made openings of 2.10 x 2.10 x 2.10, so that the sun can enter there at any time of the day. We have chosen 2.10 as the size of the openings so that, when located on walls that are in contact with the floor, they have suitable dimensions to serve as doorways. Two holes thus positioned are the entrances to our white and luminous cubic enclosure. We are very excited with the result.

Email interview conducted and edited by John Hill.