World-renowned architect Zaha Hadid of London has been selected as the winner in the design competition for the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University. Hadid joined the Broads at two public events today where MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon announced the winner.
"With today's announcement of Zaha Hadid as the architect of record for the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, we take one step closer to bringing this extraordinary project to life," Simon said. "We were fortunate to have the work of many world-class architects submitted for the competition but Ms. Hadid's design truly captured the spirit of what this iconic building will represent to MSU's campus and the greater mid-Michigan community that will benefit from its presence in the area."
The announcement is the culmination of a competition that began in June 2007 when the Broads gave a gift of $26 million to help fund the new museum, which will focus on modern and contemporary art. The other finalists were: Coop Himmelb(l)au (Vienna and Los Angeles); Morphosis (Santa Monica, Calif.); Kohn Pedersen Fox Architects, PC (New York); and Randall Stout Architects, Inc. (Los Angeles).
Hadid, founding partner of Zaha Hadid Architects, was awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2004 and is internationally known for both her theoretical and academic work. In addition to the Pritzker Prize, her work has received numerous awards from the world's most prestigious institutions, including the Mies van der Rohe Foundation of European Architecture; the American Institute of Architects; the Royal Institute of British Architects; the Royal Academy of Arts; the International Olympic Committee; the Austrian Commissions for Science and Art; Columbia University; and Yale University.
Some of Hadid's best-known completed projects include the Vitra Fire Station and the LFone Pavilion in Weil am Rhein, Germany; the Mind Zone at the Millennium Dome, London; a tram station and car park in Strasbourg, France; a ski-jump and Nordpark Cable Railway in Innsbruck, Austria; the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art, Cincinnati, Ohio; the BMW Central Building in Leipzig, Germany; the Hotel Puerta America interior in Madrid, Spain; the Ordrupgaard Museum Extension in Copenhagen, Denmark; the Phaeno Science Center, Wolfsburg, Germany; and the Maggie's Centre, Fife, Scotland.
When completed, the Broad Art Museum at MSU will be Hadid's first building on a university campus and her second completed project in the United States.
"I am absolutely delighted to be building the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University," Hadid said. "Art Museums are centers for the exchange of ideas, showcasing the art that feeds the cultural life of the community. I believe we can create buildings that evoke original experiences, inspire people and make them excited about new ideas. The sculptural folds of the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum's design and enigmatic qualities of its steel and glass surface follow a coherent formal logic, offering a sense of unlimited possibilities."
The 41,000 square-foot building will comprise three levels, including a basement. It will be constructed of steel and concrete with an aluminum and glass exterior and be adjoined by an expansive outdoor sculpture garden to the east. The museum will stand on the corner of Grand River Avenue and Farm Lane at the Collingwood campus entrance.
The museum will include more than 18,000 square feet of space for the following collections: special exhibitions; modern and contemporary art; new media; photography; works on paper; and the permanent collection - encyclopedic (pre-1945). Additional space will include an education center, museum shop, visitor cafe and gathering space and staff offices.
Groundbreaking for the museum is planned for fall 2008 and completion of the project is expected in 2010.