Expansion plans for Miami Beach’s Bass Museum of Art have been released by Los Angeles–based architectural firm Johnston Marklee, which was selected in April to lead the project.
The designs incorporate three elements—pavilions, a patio, and a stage—in a 22,000-square-foot area at the southwest corner of the museum’s campus. These new, rectangular pavilions will offer state-of-the-art galleries for the museum’s permanent collection, with windows and skylights to enhance natural lighting.
A backlit oculus will illuminate the passage beneath the center of the structure at night. The multipurpose outdoor patio includes a wall for screening films and connects to the greenery of Collins Park. Additional details include facade perforations adorning the upper pavilion edges and walls, maintaining a feeling of openness between the courtyard spaces and the adjacent streets.
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“Through careful analysis of light and shadow, space and volume, and the surrounding park and urban context, we are planning a transformative project that will increase public access to the museum’s programs and artworks,” said Sharon Johnston, founding partner of Johnston Marklee and lead architect.
The new areas build on Russell Pancoast’s 1942 Art Deco building and the Pritzker Prize–winning architect Arata Isozaki’s original 1995 campus while meeting “resiliency guidelines,” a response to risks of flooding due to rising sea levels.
In the renderings, the two pavilion structures sit on a thin concrete plane and are elevated, allowing for pedestrian passage in the courtyard underneath and preventing the incursion of floodwaters into exhibitions spaces.
Silvia Karman Cubiñá, executive director of the Bass, said, “Having just celebrated our 60th year, we are firmly focused on the future, and this expansion is a vital part of that vision, allowing us to deepen our engagement with artists and our community by creating new, flexible spaces to gather, reflect, and experience art in meaningful ways.”