The Dallas Museum of Art has selected a Spanish architecture firm to lead an expansion project that will reimagine the museum’s Arts District campus.
After six months of deliberations and over 150 submissions, the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) announced Thursday that the museum’s Architect Selection Committee (ASC) had chosen Madrid-based Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (NSA) as the winner of its “Reimagining the Dallas Museum of Art International Design Competition.”
“We are honored and delighted to win,” NSA said in a press release. “This is a thrilling experience for us, we’ve loved learning about the building, the Museum’s collection, and Dallas itself.”
The DMA campus expansion will be NSA’s first project in the United States. The ASC embraced the firm’s winning proposal for its potential solutions to issues concerning “circulation, sustainability, and gallery expansion.”
“[NSA’s] concept design mixes a poetic sensibility with a dynamic and sustainable design strategy that respects Larrabee’s original intentions, all the while preparing us to become a 21st-century museum,” said DMA Board of Trustees President Gowri Sharma and Chairman Jeffrey Ellerman, per the release.
As part of the winning proposal, NSA will enhance interior street lighting, improve accessibility with ground-floor ramps, unify visual connections for easy orientation, expand gallery space with an on-roof extension, and redo the building’s north and south facades using punctured white metal, among other design touches.
Founded in 1984 by husband and wife Enrique Sobejano and Fuensanta Nieto, NSA has built a name for itself in Madrid, Spain, where it has one of two central offices. Its other office is located in Berlin, Germany.
Regarding next steps, DMA has already convened a new task force for the project and says it will hold an inaugural meeting with stakeholders and the winning firm to “take the project forward” in September.
“It is the best time in our Museum’s history to transform our building to articulate the dynamic and diverse programming we provide. A transformation to the DMA campus will send a signal that we are inviting everyone near and far to join our vibrant art community,” Sharma and Ellerman said, per the release.
The Dallas Express reached out to DMA Director of External Affairs Aschelle Morgan for more details about the planned expansion but had not heard back by press time.
