The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art International Design Competition , Kansas City/ Vereinigte Staaten

Press release by Malcolm Reading Consultants, London | March 13, 2025

THE NELSON-ATKINS MUSEUM OF ART REVEALS DESIGN COMPETITION FINALISTS’ CONCEPTS IN BUILDING BELONGING EXHIBITION

• Finalists’ concept designs go on display at the Nelson-Atkins and in online gallery
• Community and wider public invited to comment at the exhibition or directly via online form
• Exhibition showcases work by teams led by Kengo Kuma & Associates (Tokyo), Renzo Piano Building Workshop (Genoa), Selldorf Architects (New York), Studio Gang (Chicago), Weiss/ Manfredi Architecture (New York), and WHY Architecture (Los Angeles)

The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art today revealed the six finalist teams’ concepts in the competition to transform the museum with a dynamic, open, and inviting design. The expansion project’s goal is to attract new audiences by creating vibrant spaces to host more art, and new immersive and interactive creative experiences for the community.

The concepts – devised by some of the most respected designers working in museum architecture today – are now available to view in an online gallery on the competition website at competitions.malcolmreading.com/nelson-atkins/gallery.

They can also be seen in a free exhibition at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Building Belonging: Designing the future of the Nelson-Atkins, that opens Mar 15 through June 1, 2025. The public is invited to comment at the exhibition or through the portal nelson-atkins.org/architectural-competition-comments.

For further details of opening hours and access, visit the event page.

The museum’s Architect Selection Committee (ASC) will meet in late Spring to interview the finalists and make a recommendation to the Board of Trustees. Following ratification and the winning team’s appointment, the chosen design will be refined in close partnership with the museum and its stakeholders, including local communities.

The museum’s Board of Trustees aims to broaden the conventions of the museum – which offers free general admission – so it continues evolving as a place where everyone feels they belong. The project will integrate the campus, the Donald J. Hall Sculpture Park, and the two existing buildings into a cohesive new experience.

The first stage of the competition, which launched in October 2024, attracted 182 teams from 30 countries on six continents.

“These six concept designs articulate six unique visions of a new and even more dynamic Nelson-Atkins.” said Evelyn Craft Belger, Chair of the museum’s Board of Trustees and the Architect Selection Committee. “This is a thrilling moment for the museum and our community when we start to visualize an identity that will carry us through the coming decades.

“We encourage our community to visit the exhibition and share your thoughts – which proposal best realizes your aspirations?”

“We asked for bold, inspiring moves that also respected the existing museum campus and I’m so happy to say we’ve received them in these initial designs,’ said Julián Zugazagoitia, Director & CEO of the Nelson-Atkins, “Each is a fascinating response to a complex project brief, together they bring myriad perspectives. The teams have shone their beams of thought on our big questions: how do we synthesize our existing icons with a new proposition? How do we modernize and embrace the future but keep the best of our history? And, most of all, how do we create a museum that is transparent for all and instills a sense of belonging and well-being?”

In conjunction with this exhibition is the release of Director’s Highlights: Celebrating 90 Years of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, which captures the richness and variety of the museum’s collection told through the eyes of the curators and Zugazagoitia himself. It includes about 200 works of art organized by the decade in which they entered the museum. Engaging stories, images, and colorful anecdotes accompany each work, along with historic photos and plans. The publication is available for purchase online and in the museum store.

Project Background
One of America’s finest art museums, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art cares for a superlative collection of more than 42,000 art objects. It is best known for its extensive Asian art, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and Native American, African, and Egyptian galleries. It is surrounded by a 22-acre sculpture park.

Offering free admission, the museum based in Kansas City, Missouri, is nationally and internationally acclaimed and serves a broad region within a 300-mile radius.

The museum is embarking on this new project in response to the increasing needs of its community, growing and increasingly diverse attendance, the desire to exhibit more art and collections, and aspirations to serve future generations in transformative ways.

The competition is for a new addition (or ensemble of additions) of approximately 61,000 square feet, along with a part-renovation of the original Nelson-Atkins building, as well as activation and amplification of the outdoor campus – all framed within a thoughtful, sustainability strategy.

Highlights of the new addition(s) may include a primary entrance and welcome foyer, a comprehensive photography center, new featured exhibition galleries, learning and engagement spaces for hands-on art activities, a black box-style theater for digital art and immersive programming, and a restaurant for indoor/outdoor dining and events.

The estimated construction budget (funded entirely by private donations) is one part of a larger, more comprehensive campaign starting in 2025. The campaign is expected to be the single biggest investment in the arts in Kansas City in recent years, contributing to the city’s future dynamism and vitality. The museum receives no public tax dollars for operations or capital projects.

The competition process is being led by an Architect Selection Committee chaired by Evelyn Craft Belger, also Chair of the museum’s Board of Trustees. A full list of selection committee members follows.

For further information and future updates, including the winner announcement, please visit competitions.malcolmreading.com/nelson-atkins.