The A-K and architects

Continuing from this morning: Don't assume that Richard Gluckman and the Albright-Knox will be working together in the future. I asked A-K director Louis Grachos about the drawings on Gluckman Mayner's website and what they mean for the future of the A-K:

"About two years ago we did a board retreat and started talking about these ideas," Grachos said. "In order to advance them, we asked Richard Gluckman to come up with -- and I stress this -- conceptual drawings of what a 50,000-square-foot addition would look like on our campus and in a few other places around Buffalo.

"We looked at older buildings in the community and looked at buildings to see if we could identify a satellite experience. So we identified a building a second story the terminal of the Lackawanna [railroad] line. It was about 75,000 square feet on a second-floor that was empty. The lower floor is run by the transportation agency in western New York. Richard did a rendition for that space. At the end of the days the trustees decided that running two facilities would be a burden that we could not take on. We looked at it, thought about the realities of operating two campuses and everyone thought we should focus on our campus."

Which is the right decision. I enjoy being in the Albright a lot more than I would enjoy driving around Buffalo to the Albright, Jr. Besides, once you're Olmsted-ed, it makes sense to stay Olmsted-ed.

So assuming the Albright can find the money for an expansion, who would be a good fit? Easy: Steven Holl. His new addition for the Nelson-Atkins is a perfect example of how a new building can compliment and challenge a neo-classical structure. While Grachos emphasized to me that he's thinking more about process right now than he is about picking The Architect, he's interested in Holl.