Moshe Safdie and Associates - Peabody Essex Museum

Nearing completion
Moshe Safdie and Associates
Peabody Essex Museum
Salem, Massachusetts

"In his design, Moshe Safdie creates contemporary structures that blend harmoniously with their urban context as well as with the Museum's historic buildings, creating a continuum between our past and our future."
Dan Monroe
Executive Director

Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum

The new addition to the Peabody Essex Museum is scheduled for completion in June 2003. The addition will expand, reconfigure, and transform the 203 year old institution, providing more than 250,000 square feet of new and renovated facilities while creating a striking new wing and adding an important historic house from China to its world renowned collection of architecture.
From the exterior the new wing reads as five separate buildings, each building evoking the scale and different forms of traditional New England architecture.

The expansion and renovation will unify and integrate the Museum's extensive campus of 24 historic properties and gardens while creating a 111,000-square-foot new wing as well as a new urban park and landscaped outdoor public spaces.

Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum

The new wing creates a dramatic public space at the heart of the Peabody Essex Museum campus with a soaring glass roof over a courtyard piazza that will serve as a central gathering place, in the tradition of a New England village green. Walkways radiate from the open space, leading into both new and renovated galleries, and to the new education and public performance centers.
The first floor of the new wing, adjacent too the courtyard, will show installations drawn from the Museum's collections. The second level of the new wing, with 15,000 square feet for changing exhibitions,. will be one of the largest museum spaces in New England.

Image courtesy Moshe Safdie and Associates

The entrance to a striking new wing leads to a pedestrian "street" within the museum.
Windows along the walkways reveal city vistas or views into galleries, enabling visitors to easily find their way through the Museum. Carefully selected exterior architectural details tie the new Museum to its collection of historic houses as well as to the surrounding city.

Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum

Gallery interiors will be filled with light from skylights that allow natural illumination of both first and second floor galleries. A 7,000 square foot education center for adults and children will use workshop and studio spaces, as well as interactive technology, to explore connections between art, architecture, and the natural world. A nearby 190-seat auditorium and performance space will greatly expand the range of public programming, lectures, films, music, and dance that the Peabody Essex Museum offers.

Sketch courtesy Moshe Safdie and Associates

Drawing courtesy Moshe Safdie and Associates
First Floor Plan

Drawing courtesy Moshe Safdie and Associates
Section

An important part of the new Peabody Essex Museum is the creation of the beautiful outdoor spaces designed by acclaimed landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh whose 1994 restoration of Harvard Yard received an Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
The spaces created in concert with the new Museum include the completed Armory Park, a commemorative space with a historic timeline chronicling the birth and development of the citizen soldier in America. Across the street, a new pedestrian esplanade with trees and plantings imported from China and Japan will provide a new complement to the Museum's Asian Garden. The tree-lined parkway, which leads visitors from downtown Salem to the city's historic waterfront, will also serve as a gathering place and promenade, featuring open spaces for public performances and events.

The Peabody Essex Museum
The Peabody Essex Museum was founded in 1799, just 16 years after the birth of the nation, when entrepreneurs from Salem came to understand that to thrive in a new global economy, they needed to understand and appreciate other peoples and cultures. In that spirit, they founded the first American museum to collect the art of Asia and the Pacific, acquiring collections it would be impossible to duplicate today.

Moshe Safdie was selected following an international search and competition because of his widely recognized ability to create stunning contemporary buildings that blend into historic contexts. Safdie has won critical and public acclaim for his designs, among them the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Vancouver Public Library, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and the Exploration Place Science Center and Children's Museum in Wichita, Kansas. Last year, he was awarded the prestigious commission to design the new United States Institute of Peace Headquarters, across from the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C.

September 16, 2002

Moshe Safdie arcspace features





				Features
		Nearing completion Moshe Safdie and Associates Peabody Essex Museum Salem, Massachusetts "In his design, Moshe Safdie creates contemporary structures that blend harmoniously with their urban context as well as with the Museum's historic buildings, creating a continuum between our past and our future." Dan Monroe Executive Director Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum The new addition to the Peabody Essex Museum is scheduled for completion in June 2003. The addition will expand, reconfigure, and transform the 203 year old institution, providing more than 250,000 square feet of new and renovated facilities while creating a striking new wing and adding an important historic house from China to its world renowned collection of architecture. From the exterior the new wing reads as five separate buildings, each building evoking the scale and different forms of traditional New England architecture. The expansion and renovation will unify and integrate the Museum's extensive campus of 24 historic properties and gardens while creating a 111,000-square-foot new wing as well as a new urban park and landscaped outdoor public spaces. Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum The new wing creates a dramatic public space at the heart of the Peabody Essex Museum campus with a soaring glass roof over a courtyard piazza that will serve as a central gathering place, in the tradition of a New England village green. Walkways radiate from the open space, leading into both new and renovated galleries, and to the new education and public performance centers. The first floor of the new wing, adjacent too the courtyard, will show installations drawn from the Museum's collections. The second level of the new wing, with 15,000 square feet for changing exhibitions,. will be one of the largest museum spaces in New England. Image courtesy Moshe Safdie and Associates The entrance to a striking new wing leads to a pedestrian "street" within the museum. Windows along the walkways reveal city vistas or views into galleries, enabling visitors to easily find their way through the Museum. Carefully selected exterior architectural details tie the new Museum to its collection of historic houses as well as to the surrounding city. Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum Gallery interiors will be filled with light from skylights that allow natural illumination of both first and second floor galleries. A 7,000 square foot education center for adults and children will use workshop and studio spaces, as well as interactive technology, to explore connections between art, architecture, and the natural world. A nearby 190-seat auditorium and performance space will greatly expand the range of public programming, lectures, films, music, and dance that the Peabody Essex Museum offers. Sketch courtesy Moshe Safdie and Associates Drawing courtesy Moshe Safdie and Associates First Floor Plan Drawing courtesy Moshe Safdie and Associates Section An important part of the new Peabody Essex Museum is the creation of the beautiful outdoor spaces designed by acclaimed landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh whose 1994 restoration of Harvard Yard received an Honor Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The spaces created in concert with the new Museum include the completed Armory Park, a commemorative space with a historic timeline chronicling the birth and development of the citizen soldier in America. Across the street, a new pedestrian esplanade with trees and plantings imported from China and Japan will provide a new complement to the Museum's Asian Garden. The tree-lined parkway, which leads visitors from downtown Salem to the city's historic waterfront, will also serve as a gathering place and promenade, featuring open spaces for public performances and events. The Peabody Essex Museum The Peabody Essex Museum was founded in 1799, just 16 years after the birth of the nation, when entrepreneurs from Salem came to understand that to thrive in a new global economy, they needed to understand and appreciate other peoples and cultures. In that spirit, they founded the first American museum to collect the art of Asia and the Pacific, acquiring collections it would be impossible to duplicate today. Moshe Safdie was selected following an international search and competition because of his widely recognized ability to create stunning contemporary buildings that blend into historic contexts. Safdie has won critical and public acclaim for his designs, among them the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, the Vancouver Public Library, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and the Exploration Place Science Center and Children's Museum in Wichita, Kansas. Last year, he was awarded the prestigious commission to design the new United States Institute of Peace Headquarters, across from the Lincoln Memorial on the Mall in Washington, D.C. September 16, 2002 Moshe Safdie arcspace features