Harvard Art Museums

Prestigious Collection, Respectfully Remixed

Harvard Art Museums is undergoing a major overhaul to centralize its three separate museums – the Fogg, the Sackler and the Busch-Reisinger – into a continuous art viewing experience. In total, the project includes over 130 cases for a diverse collection of approximately 250,000 objects dating from ancient times to the present.

In collaboration with Renzo Piano Building Workshop, wHY worked closely with the curators and senior leaders on creating a unified art viewing experience by employing a streamlined, simple and elegant design language which places total emphasis on the art objects themselves.

Tested by art handlers and curators throughout the design’s development, the new galleries will accommodates a wide range of media from the different collections and adapt for reconfiguration or change over time as works of art are rotated.

Overall, the galleries’ subtle lighting conditions and thoughtful object arrangements minimize the artificial construction of context or narratives that may distract from art observation.