The Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art in Pennsylvania has announced a $100 million project to transform its 15-acre campus.
The development includes a new museum building, as well as renovations to the original museum building, and new conservation and landscape work to create a publicly accessible 325-acre preserve and garden.
“Since our founding in 1967, our vision has been to ‘preserve the land that inspired so many artists," said Virginia Logan, executive director and CEO of the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
"We're creating an experience of quiet elegance where light-filled spaces connect you to the surrounding preserve – where visitors move from contemplating American art in our galleries to walking the landscapes that inspired it, understanding through this journey how art, nature, and conservation exist in enduring harmony."
The new 40,000-square-foot building is designed by Kengo Kuma & Associates and represents the architecture office's first museum building in the US.
The new structure will add 14,000 square feet of gallery space, bringing the total exhibition space across both buildings to nearly 20,000 square feet – an 80 percent increase from the Brandywine's current capacity.
Design by Kengo Kuma & Associates
“Our design seeks to honor the dynamic and evolving relationship between art and nature, by creating a building that emerges from the landscape rather than imposing upon it,” said Kengo Kuma, founding partner at Kengo Kuma.
Balázs Bognár, partner and executive vice president at Kengo Kuma, added: "The design puts landscape at the heart of the experience, with the new building playing part of a much larger story of Brandywine's fused mission as a land conservancy and art museum."
Renovations to the original building, a converted mid-19th century grist mill on the banks of the Brandywine Creek, include an interactive exhibit dedicated to the conservancy's land and water protection work, a new studio art classroom, and enhanced spaces for educational programming and special events.
Landscape design for the expanded campus will be led by Field Operations, with the preserve and garden to offer 10 miles of trails bookended by the two museum buildings, as well as an outdoor classroom and nature play area.
“Every element of our landscape design, from the plantings to the interpretive moments along the trails, is intended to deepen visitors' understanding of stewardship and their connection to the natural world,” said Sarah Weidner Astheimer, partner at Field Operations.
Construction on the project is scheduled to start in spring 2027, with the new building set to open in autumn 2029.
Images courtesy of Kengo Kuma & Associates
