“Museum architectural search committees have invariably included the Kimbell in their international scouting tours of exemplary art galleries (a practice pioneered by Velma Kimbell, the founder’s widow, in 1964). Those groups no doubt respond to the Kimbell with suitable reverence, but given the buildings they later commissioned, many post-Bilbao museum patrons obviously wanted something quite different. The disparity between Kahn’s museums and recent examples of that genre parallels the discrepancy he saw between postwar Modernism and ancient Classicism: “Our stuff looks tinny compared to it.” At a time when commercial values are systematically corrupting the museum - one of civilized society’s most elevating experiences - the example of Kahn, among the most courageous and successful architectural reformers of all time, seems more relevant and cautionary than ever.” ArchitectureMuseumsLouis Kahn Book:Makers of Modern Architecture: From Frank Lloyd Wright to Frank Gehry (New York Review Books Source: Makers of Modern Architecture: From Frank Lloyd Wright to Frank Gehry (New York Review Books
“The most basic task of any museum must be the protection of works of cultural significance entrusted to its care for the edification and pleasure of future generations.” CarePleasureGenerationsTasksProtectionSignificanceMuseumsFuture GenerationEdification Author:Martin Filler
“From the outset, MoMA followed the Bauhaus's strict prohibition against design that even hinted at the decorative, a prejudice that skewed the pioneering museum's view of Modernism for decades.” ViewsDesignPrejudiceDecadesMuseumsStrictModernismProhibitionPioneering Author:Martin Filler
“Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers's Centre Georges Pompidou of 1971-1977 - the true prototype of the modern museum as popular architectural spectacle - wound up costing so much more than planned that the French government solved the shortfall by cutting support for several regional museums.” GovernmentSupportCuttingModernWoundsPianoMuseumsCentreRogerPrototype Author:Martin Filler
“What a museum chooses to exhibit is sometimes less important than how such decisions are made and what values inform them. To have the crucial role of museum professionals usurped by self-serving tycoons in the name of economic imperative threatens not only the integrity of individual institutions but the very principle of art held in public trust.” ArtMadeImportantSelfSometimesValuesNamesIndividualDecisionPrinciplesRolesEconomicTrustIntegrityInstitutionsServingMuseumsCrucialImperativesExhibitsSelf ServingPublic TrustTycoons Author:Martin Filler
“The most basic task of any museum must be the protection of works of cultural significance entrusted to its care for the edification and pleasure of future generations. This imperative rightfully takes precedence over acquisition, interpretation, outreach, or any number of other activities now believed to be crucial to the survival of our great art repositories. Sometimes a museum gains its holdings with much strategic forethought, and at other times serendipitously, as when a long-coveted neighbor’s plot suddenly becomes available. Yet the moral responsibility remains the same.” LongArtSometimesCarePleasureNumbersResponsibilityMoralGenerationsActivitySurvivalGainsTasksRemainsAvailableProtectionNeighborPlotSignificanceInterpretationMuseumsCrucialGreat ArtImperativesFuture GenerationStrategicAcquisitionPrecedenceMoral ResponsibilityForethoughtOutreachEdification Author:Martin Filler
