Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, an architecture firm based in New York, was chosen by a College selection committee to design and renovate the Hood Museum of Art and Wilson Hall, according to a College press release. Although the construction timeline has not yet been established, the renovation will increase the Hood's gallery space and classrooms as well as provide new amenities in both facilities, according to Hood Director Michael Taylor.
The project will focus on expanding the accessibility of the museum while still respecting the "very handsome" architecture of Wilson Hall, architect Billie Tsien said in an interview with The Dartmouth.
"One of the things the Hood is concerned about is how to make the building more open to campus," Tsien said. "How you enter that building is a major part of opening up the museum experience."
Tsien said that the firm was interested in the Hood renovation because of the "interesting challenge" of designing a teaching museum, which it has never done before. Tsien and her husband Tod Williams have worked on various projects involving art museums as well as college campuses, such as the American Folk Art Museum, the Phoenix Art Museum and the Whitney Museum of Art, according to their website.
They have also designed projects at Princeton University, the University of Chicago and Bennington College, according to Tsien.
Designing architecture for college campuses is different than projects in other environments because of a set of unique challenges, Tsien said.
"Particularly on a campus, you want to make buildings that will last for more than 100 years," she said.
Campus buildings must not only be "timeless," but also welcoming to students in their design, according to Tsien. Achieving these needs is further complicated by a limited budget.
She said that the Hood has "huge ambitions" for the building and a "reasonable, but not huge" budget.
Art history professor Marlene Heck said that the architects are "terrific," citing a recent project in Cranbook Academy that received positive reviews from faculty and students at the Academy. Heck said that the firm does not have a specific style, but each project is contemporary and designed to fit its context and the clients' needs.
"We want them to design a fresh building that is both sympathetic to our landscape while it creates new spaces that contribute on their own to this beautiful campus," Heck said in an email to The Dartmouth. "We want a building that expresses the creativity of the arts and signals the importance of the arts at Dartmouth."
Linda Snyder, vice president for campus planning and facilities and a member of the selection committee, praised the architects for their "ability to communicate to a wide range of audiences" and for their understanding of "the business of teaching with objects." She said that Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects is among the leading museum architect firms in the country.
Taylor slated the renovation to be completed by Fall 2015, but Snyder said that the process is in too early a stage to provide a definitive schedule. Construction may not begin for two or three years, with fundraising and permit acquisition processes posing potential obstacles to the project, Synder said.
The expansion will increase the classroom teaching space available at the Hood with a new "Museum Learning Center" and will double the gallery space, according to Taylor.
"The goal of the expansion is to enable the College to retain and enhance the Hood Museum of Art's position as a model teaching museum," Taylor said in an email to The Dartmouth.
Snyder pointed to the Hood's extensive collection, with over 60,000 objects, and its potential to serve as a teaching tool for various curricula. Currently, the potential of the Hood is limited by its lack of adequate space, she said.
"The Hood can only exhibit 1 to 2 percent of its collection at a time," Snyder said.
Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects was chosen by the selection committee for their "superlative" experience in designing museums, Synder said.
