What It Wanted to Be
Launch the Video →

Architect Louis I. Kahn created the Yale University Art Gallery as a space to harmonize the quiet glory of great works of art with the movement of life. His vision continues to inspire, and in this short video Gallery director Jock Reynolds and Duncan Hazard of Polshek Partnership Architects give insight to Kahn's design and the restoration project—as well as their own visions for the future of the building. (8:56 mins.)





  In the fall of 1998, after participating in a comprehensive survey of campus arts facilities, the Yale University Art Gallery was asked by Yale President Richard Levin and Provost Alison Richard to produce a viable plan for enhancing the mission and facilities of this teaching museum. An inventory of the Gallery’s extant physical facilities was created and proved revealing in many respects. Providing ready access to the collection, through increased public exhibition space and classrooms dedicated to object study, appeared as the top priority to achieve our goal of providing meaningful experiences for all of our museum visitors.

The Gallery has completed the comprehensive restoration of its landmark main building, designed by American architect Louis I. Kahn and opened in 1953. The improvements have restored the building’s five floors and now reflect more fully Kahn’s original intention for the building. Loft-style spaces allow for versatile exhibition spaces and temporary exhibition spaces for works on paper, and two large object study classrooms enhance our teaching mission. A dramatic public lobby provides a welcoming space for students and the public to gather and guides visitors to our expanded permanent collection galleries.

The next phase of the Gallery’s expansion project will include the full renovation of the two historic structures adjacent to the Kahn building—the 1928 Gothic-style Swartwout building and the 1866 Street Hall. Their careful conversion will enlarge exhibition spaces, collection study rooms, and classroom facilities. With the completion of this project, the Gallery will span more than an entire block of Chapel Street.