A striking exhibition of evocative drawings by internationally renowned architects who were competition finalists for the design of the Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art expansion will be shown at the Beach Museum of Art this fall. 

Architects' Sketchbooks opens October 13 and concludes December 22, 2002. The exhibit includes the design proposals of three distinguished American architects based in Boston, New York and Houston, and by three illustrious architects whose practices are in Osaka, Zurich, and Paris. Until now the exhibition has been shown only at the Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City where it premiered and attracted large, admiring audiences throughout its run.

In conjunction with the show, architect Steven Holl of New York, whose bold design proposal was selected by the museum and is now under construction, will visit Manhattan and deliver a public lecture. “Idea and Phenomena,” will be presented in Forum Hall of the Kansas State Student Union at 6:30 p.m., Sunday evening, October 13, 2002.

Acclaimed for his masterful command of light and space, Holl was described by the New York Times in 1999 as "pre-eminent among a generation of architects emerging from the long shadow of architects like Frank Gehry, Peter Eisenman and Richard Meier." Two years later Holl was named America's best architect by Time magazine and praised for designing "buildings that satisfy the spirit as well as the eye."

Located on the east side of the museum's magnificent 1933 Beaux-Arts building, the expansion is largely composed of subterranean spaces poetically surfacing in a series of five irregularly shaped glazed boxes, or "lanterns," which punctuate the gardens to the east of the museum and diffuse natural light into the vaulted galleries below. At night, light from the galleries will glow softly through the lanterns. The new building preserves the view of the landmark structure's monumental limestone facades and skillfully merges architecture with the landscape.

A web page devoted to information on the Nelson- Atkins, its expansion, and to the work of Steven Holl has been prepared by the Paul Weigel Library of the College of Architecture, Planning and Design. Access those resources at:
www.lib.ksu.edu/branches/architecture/nelsonatkins/archsketch.html

Working closely with Holl and with the Nelson- Atkins is BNIM, the award-winning Kansas City architectural firm selected as the architect of record for the project. 1974 Kansas State University architecture alumnus, Casey Cassias, a partner in the firm, and Rebecca Young, Chief of Exhibition Design at the museum, have collaborated in the design of the Noguchi Court and other new gallery spaces for the Nelson-Atkins expansion. Their 7:30 p.m., Wednesday evening, October 30, 2002, illustrated presentation at the Beach Museum, "Making Places for Art," is open to the public without charge.

The exhibition and the lectures by Steven Holl, Casey Cassias and Rebecca Young are organized by the Beach Museum and the KSU College of Architecture, Planning and Design in cooperation with the Nelson-Atkins and with the financial support of the Oscar Ekdahl Memorial Lecture Fund, The American Institute of Architects/Flint Hills, and the KSU Fine Arts Fee.

For more information, contact Eugene Kremer, 785/532-1113.