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New Grand Rapids Art Museum

GRDadof3

By GRDadof3
in Grand Rapids

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jwazzz Whistle-Stop

jwazzz

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I agree with the comments on what we could have ended up with by selecting some architect-du-jour (Libeskind is the first that comes to mind.) I like the design of the new GRAM and I think that it will stand the test of time. Why don't we wait for the finished product and then decide?

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tamias6 Town

tamias6

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Why don't we wait for the finished product and then decide?

My sentiments exactly. I check out the webbsite linked above and took a good hard look at the renderings they had. Going by that that area of DT is in for a real treat once the dust and noise of construction settle down and the new GRAM opens its doirs.

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GRDadof3 Ecumenopolis

GRDadof3

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I agree with the comments on what we could have ended up with by selecting some architect-du-jour (Libeskind is the first that comes to mind.) I like the design of the new GRAM and I think that it will stand the test of time. Why don't we wait for the finished product and then decide?

If I like it now, can I make that decision now? :)

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LA Dave Hamlet

LA Dave

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I went to the old GR art museum for the first time this afternoon, and I was surprised by how little space is actually given to exhibiting art (unless I missed something). It won't take a whole lot of exhibit space in the new museum to be a significant upgrade over the old space.

That said, most art museums would seem small to me after walking through the *endless* corridors of the Vatican Museum this past summer! :P

Yeah, that Pope guy sure has a nice art gallery.

When I first heard about the new GRAM, I thought, "what was wrong with the old GRAM?" Then I paid my first visit there in August. Too small. Way too small. And not really set up for the proper display of art, at least not on the upper floors. While it is great that the museum use saved a wonderful old building, the building itself did not lend itself to the reuse. I hope that the building will be used for something once the new GRAM is finished.

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LA Dave Hamlet

LA Dave

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Great! By the way, the building (or the cornerstone) was dedicated by Alice Longworth Roosevelt, daughter of TR, on the 100th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth, in 1909. Around 1920, it was damaged by an anarchists bomb. Supposedly, you can still see the scars on the granite.

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  • 3 weeks later...
DwntwnGeo Hamlet

DwntwnGeo

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I was driving along Monroe tonight and noticed that some of the supports for the front overhang/roof were being taken down. Also part of the plastic screening was removed from the Northwestern corner. I didn't have my camera with me to take any pics :(

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numstead Hamlet

numstead

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I was driving along Monroe tonight and noticed that some of the supports for the front overhang/roof were being taken down. Also part of the plastic screening was removed from the Northwestern corner. I didn't have my camera with me to take any pics :(

Yeah, I noticed that at lunch today. The building is going to look great along the park!

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gvsusean Burg

gvsusean

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GRAM will have a fountain if that makes up for it. :) Probably some sculptures too I would imagine. Using that space as a park of some sort would have been a real waste.

u think it would've been a waste? i dont know, if anywhere its the best place in the city for a plaza... or is it?

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joeDowntown Metropolis

joeDowntown

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Yup, a waste. A travesty. This city needs density, not more plazas. I can think of one plaza right now that has sculptures by several internationally known artists that is a wasteland. I would rather see the greening of small areas (as discussed in another post) than some grassy (or worse, concrete) area that no one uses.

Joe

u think it would've been a waste? i dont know, if anywhere its the best place in the city for a plaza... or is it?
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suydam Hamlet

suydam

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The U.S. just isn't known for great plazas. They always seem too big and artificial, and the buildings that surround them never complement the space.

Manhattan has some incredible urban parks and small plazas surrounded by great buildings.

It's not an American problem...it's a flyover-country problem.

Even Chicago's missing the boat (though Millenium park downtown is incredible.0>

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