The Yale University Art Gallery, originally designed by Louis I. Kahn, is undergoing a restoration of its landmark main building under the guidance of James Polshek, FAIA; Richard Olcott, FAIA; and Duncan Hazard, AIA, of New York City-based Polshek Partnership Architects. The gallery, the oldest college museum in the Western Hemisphere, was Kahn’s first significant commission and is considered by many to be his first masterpiece.

The 1953 building, set to reopen in 2006, contributes to the university’s master plan for the Yale Arts Area, for which Hazard serves as the lead architectural planner. Kahn’s Modernist building broke from the tradition of its neo-Gothic companions. Constructed of brick, concrete, glass, and steel, it presents a windowless wall along its most public façade. The university notes: “Kahn’s design has been celebrated not only for its beauty, geometry, and light, but also for its structural and engineering innovations. Among these is the housing of electrical and ventilating systems in hollow concrete tetrahedrons that make up the ceiling, appearing to float overhead.”

In a statement released by Yale, Polshek says, “I was a student of Louis Kahn’s in 1954 in the newly installed fourth-floor studios of the building. The opportunity to restore this early masterpiece to the architect’s original vision and to protect it for the future is extraordinary.”

The restoration will address structural issues and return the building to Kahn’s initial concept of uncluttered spaces for the display of artwork. The architects will remove partitions, using the original moveable “pogo” walls more effectively. Repairs will also be made to the building’s windows and its interior and exterior walls, including the complete replacement of its three-story glass curtain wall. The design team says the roof and environmental, electrical, fire-protection, and security systems also will be repaired and upgraded.

The gallery houses diverse international and American collections of paintings, sculptures, and decorative arts. It stands across the street from the Yale Center for British Art, designed in 1974 and the last of Kahn’s buildings on which construction began during his lifetime.

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