Menil Collection--page 2 (of two pages)

Renzo Piano
1985-87





Views of the interior--left and center: the entrance lobby; right: the back entrance
 
The museum is wonderfully illuminated with natural light. The roof is made of "leaves" of glass-reinforced cooncrete--these act as a kind of brise-soleil diffusing the light.
 

Ceiling details
 

One gallery looks out to a private garden

 

Cy Twombly Gallery

This gallery, housing more than 30 works by Twombly, was designed by Renzo Piano, and opened in 1995.
 
This gallery "has a sophisticated roofing system that allows for an even diffusion of natural light. An external canopy of fixed louvers first breaks the sunlight over a sloping, hipped glass roof. Passing through ultraviolet filtering glass, the light is controlled by mechanical louvers and finally dispersed within the galleries by the stretched cotton fabric ceiling" (The Menil Collection Museum Guide [pamphlet].


Return to page1.

See also outdoor sculpture at the Menil Foundation.

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© 2003 Mary Ann Sullivan. I have photographed (on site), scanned, and manipulated all the images on these pages. Please feel free to use them for personal or educational purposes. They are not available for commercial purposes.

Page created by Mary Ann Sullivan