Tentative Details on the Kimbell's Planned Renzo Piano Annex

Renzo Piano and his cohorts "swooped into town last week," according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, to discuss ideas for the new Kimbell Art Museum annex.

Mary Rogers of the Star-Telegram reports:

The architectural team arrived with a box filled with a variety of site plans that included not the single plot of land where the newest addition will rise, but the entire museum neighborhood. First one plan and then another was presented.

Few details of the Kimbell's ideas and plans have been released, but if Piano is involved, we assume there's got to be a piazza in there somewhere. Here's what Mindy Riesenberg, the museum's head of media relations, told me recently:

The entire building will be funded by the Kimbell Art Foundation. I have no idea at this point what it will cost, as we have no clue how big it will be, what it will include, etc. We're just in the early stages of discussing what we will need the building to do for us. As for connecting to the Kahn building, we're still talking about that: Could be a tunnel. Could be a bridge. Could be nothing.

Right now, the main purpose of the new building is to house special exhibitions, but we may also show some of our permanent collection from time to time, and we're talking about moving our library and the education department over there. There may also be another cafe or restaurant of some type. We may also have facilities that can be rented out (unlike in the Kahn building), but again, this is all just speculation right now and we have made no final decisions.

A major building project by a world-architect that requires no capital campaign, just a check from the supporting foundation? Now that's rich!