Kimbell's New Piano Pavilion Opens Wednesday

Piano Pavilion triples museum's gallery space

The Kimbell Art Museum's eye-popping Piano Pavilion, a building of glass, concrete and wood, triples the museum's gallery space. It opens to the public on Nov. 27/

The new building, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, houses classrooms, an expanded library, underground parking and an auditorium.

The interiors are as arresting as the exterior, whether it is the north gallery featuring African and pre-Colombian works or the spacious auditorium lit by the two-story light well.

The building is a work of art in addition to the dozens it houses inside. Piano Pavilion sits just 65 yards west of the one designed by Piano's mentor, Louis Kahn. The Kahn building and museum opened in 1972.

Perhaps the most important part of his new building is how it leads people to the original one through the correct and intended entry point on the western side, Piano said.

Admission to see the Kimbell's collection is free.

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