wHY has named Brian Butterfield as the director of the newly formed MUSEUMS Workshop. The new workshop will focus on the thinking, planning, designing, and operations of museums to better serve wHY’s various cultural and institutional clients. The firm, composed of four other workshops – BUILDINGS, OBJECTS, GROUNDS, and IDEAS – having always collaborated closely with cultural institutions, saw an opportunity to integrate Brian’s expertise in this field in order to provide the best design solutions for its growing portfolio of cultural projects. “For the last three years I have had the pleasure of working with wHY as a client and collaborator, as Kulapat’s innovative approach to holistic museum design is profound, and timely,” says Brian. “Museums are at a crossroads today, with many new private museums entering the museum landscape, galleries expanding into ever more diverse programming models, and rapidly changing technology opening new design possibilities as well as challenges. Museums need innovative design collaborators now more than ever. I strongly believe in architecture's ability to engender engagement and I look forward to joining wHY’s interdisciplinary team”. Brian will be joining wHY after 5 years with the Metropolitan Museum of Art as Senior Design Manager for Exhibitions and Capital Projects where he managed a team of architects, exhibition designers, and lighting designers and provided creative direction for all capital construction projects. Prior to working at the Met, Brian was the Director of Exhibitions at the Yale School of Architecture and worked for Della Valle Bernheimer Architects. He received his Bachelor of Art in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and subsequently his Master’s in Architecture from the Yale School of Architecture. “I have been impressed with Brian’s approach to design strategy, and with the exhibitions that he produced at The Met. Working with him closely is a fun and synergetic creative collaboration. His personal vision and comprehensive understanding of what, why and how museums serve our communities perfectly enhance wHY’s commitment and expertise in museums and cultural development,” says wHY founder, Kulapat Yantrasat.
