Beer jug, Eastern Tibet, circa 1940s. Copper with brass, decoration, iron handle.

Wadsworth Atheneum Announces Design Architects

HARTFORD, CONN. – Ben van Berkel and Caroline Bos of UN Studio, based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, have been awarded the contract for the expansion and renovation of the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, according to Director Kate M. Sellers.

The Wadsworth Atheneum’s Architectural and Project Planning Committee heard presentations from the four semifinalists on October 5 and in a public forum held at the Hilton Hartford on October 6.

A National Historic Landmark and the oldest art museum in the United States, the Wadsworth Atheneum occupies a campus of five contiguous buildings constructed over 125 years. Since the opening its doors to Main Street, Hartford, in 1844, the museum has amassed more than 45,000 art objects, of which more than 43,000 are in storage.

Over time, all of the buildings have been adapted to meet the demands of displaying, conserving, and storing the museum’s growing collections, as well as the changing need of its visitors and staff. The museum has not undertaken a major expansion in more than 30 years.

The core of the expansion program is to improve circulation and connection between existing buildings, and to provide new special exhibition space and associated public amenities for the museum’s growing audiences.