Reinstallation

As we move forward on the new building, we have simultaneously begun the involved and deliberate process of planning for the reinstallation of the entire museum. The Modern Wing will provide a striking home for the Art Institute’s renowned holdings of modern and contemporary art. The building will feature 65,000 square feet of new galleries, increasing the museum’s total gallery space by 30 percent. As a result of this new space, the museum has the opportunity to reinstall every other collection within the museum’s original galleries, allowing for a greater portion of these holdings to be on view. All museum departments, including African and Amerindian art, prints and drawings, and Asian art, will have an expanded presence in the museum’s galleries. With a team of curators, architects, and trustees, we have examined the current museum buildings in an effort to determine the best ways to highlight and install each of our collections amidst the landscape of the Modern Wing.

To accomplish a seamless reinstallation, we have enlisted the help of two architectural firms. Vinci/Hamp will focus on the reinstallation of the Allerton Building. This firm is very familiar with the Art Institute as a whole and the Allerton Building specifically, possessing a sensitivity that is appropriate to its architecture. The principal architect, John Vinci, has worked with the Art Institute in the past on several projects, including the reconstruction of the Chicago Stock Exchange Room in 1977 and the Michigan Avenue lobby restoration and enhancement in 1988.

Workshop Hakomori Yantrasast (wHY) will focus on the Morton Building. This new firm has a modern sensibility; its architects have contributed on projects at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and the Getty Research Institute, among many others. Principal Kulapat Yantrasast has also worked with Tadao Ando, renowned architect and designer of the Ando Asian gallery at the Art Institute.