Reimagining Portland’s museum — inside the four PMA expansion proposals — Portland Museum of Art

This write-up seems in the Portland Phoenix.

The Portland Museum of Artwork is a postmodernist landmark on the city’s Congress Square. The museum is now scheduling an even much more extraordinary architectural landmark that may possibly upstage the handsome brick façade with its signature quartet of arches.

Back again in 1983, the Portland Museum of Art replaced the old Libby Setting up office environment with the $8.2 million, 63,000-sq.-foot Charles Shipman Payson Building. Forty several years later, the museum programs to double its place with a $45 million, 60,000-square-foot growth subsequent doorway to the Payson Making, changing the outgoing Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine at 142 Cost-free St. (which moved to Thompson’s Place) with a person of four constructions proposed by the finalists in an worldwide style level of competition.

Billed as “Imagining the Subsequent Maine Landmark: A First Glance at the Long term PMA,” the remaining-4 choice is the topic of an exhibition at the museum (by Dec. 11) and aspect of its $100-million growth venture.

According to PMA director Mark Bessire, the museum needs extra area equally to show its escalating selection and to accommodate raising general public use. 

“We do not have the scale to lover with the museums we want to husband or wife with,” explained Bessire, incorporating that PMA’s major gallery is 4,500 sq. toes whilst key touring demonstrates normally call for 8,000 square ft of exhibition place. 

Then, too, the museum only has a single general public restroom for guests, which numbered about 175 thousand for every yr before the pandemic. Extra local community teams are using museum spaces, and the Payson Building was not made to have a reward store or restaurant, both of those of which now occupy hallway areas.

To cure the house shortage, PMA opened a style and design opposition in summer months of 2022, which attracted 104 style groups (250 firms in all) from 20 nations. Museum management “put big significance” on the concern of “how do we create equity in a modern day museum,” Bessire mentioned. Close to 50 % of the companies that submitted to the competition and 100 % of the finalists are led by women of all ages or folks of color. A 12-member jury picked 4 finalists – Adjaye Associates of Ghana, London and New York LEVER Architecture of Portland, Oregon MVRDV of Rotterdam, The Netherlands and Toshiko Mori of New York City.

Whilst there are no Maine companies between the finalists, all four have picked Scott Simons of Simons Architects in Portland as their architect of document, indicating his organization, in Simons’ text, will “work with them to produce the layout notion additional, to prepare the design documents, and to administer building of the constructing.”

The PMA jury will commence its deliberations in December, but the new wing is not predicted to be accomplished till 2026.