San Diego, California, USA

 “Our goal for the museum was to allow the fantastic site and views of the Pacific Ocean to guide a coherent circulation path and instill a generous and inclusive spirit to bring people to the great collection of MCASD,” said Annabelle Selldorf, principal of New York City-based Selldorf Architects. 

“The addition to MCASD provides new gallery space to the south of the existing buildings.” 

“In shifting the center of gravity and entry sequence, we were able to knit together different geometries and achieve an overall volume of the museum that reads as one and nevertheless respects the presence of architectural expressions of multiple generations of the institution.”

Led by Annabelle Selldorf and her team at Selldorf Architects, together with Level 10 Construction, the newly renovated historic landmark museum flagship will have quadrupled the size of the existing gallery space from 9,300 square feet to 38,950 square feet, while providing new space to simultaneously exhibit the Museum of Contemporary Art’s (MCASD) permanent collection as well as changing exhibitions.”

First established in 1941 as the Art Center in La Jolla, MCASD has been temporarily shuttered for four years to make way for an expansive revamp that doubles the museum’s existing square footage. 

The original architect of the building, built for philanthropist Ellen Browning Scripps, was Irving Gill (1870-1936).

San Diego firm Mosher & Drew (now Architects Mosher Drew) oversaw a series of expansions to the modernist 1916 structure that was carried out almost every subsequent decade after the museum’s 1941 opening in the 1950s, 1960s, and in the late-1970s.

The last major expansion and renovation project completed at the museum was a 1990s-era update designed by Venturi Scott Brown & Associates 

Visitors to Selldorf’s renovated MCASD will encounter four times the amount of previous gallery space, two new levels of light-filled galleries, a public art park located on the north end of the campus at a former parking lot, and two levels of seaside terraces that wrap around the building and offer dramatic views of the Pacific Coast.

Many of the new galleries have high ceilings and the former Sherwood Auditorium has been repurposed as a 7,000-square foot gallery with 20-foot ceilings. 

A partial component of the auditorium has also been converted to a flexible events space with a dedicated entrance accessed through Coast Boulevard South. 

Skylights and vertical windows bring the site’s distinct natural light and coastal views into the new spaces.

An existing parking lot and loading dock on the north end of campus is transformed into a new publicly accessible art park. 

Selldorf added new terraces to enhance the connection of the overall complex to its context, including landscape architectural firm Garbini & Garbini’s vintage garden, which features an array of specimen cactus, palms, and succulents, and accent shrubs dating back to the original 1930s. 

MCASD’s operations are further enhanced with updated back-of-house spaces, including a new loading dock, art preparator’s room, freight elevator, art storage, and two levels of below-grade parking.

Inaugural exhibitions set to debut alongside the renovated and expanded museum are “Niki de Saint Phalle in the 1960s,” a major traveling survey co-presented by The Menil Collection featuring rare early works by the late French-American multidisciplinary artist (and late-in-life San Diego resident) best known for her monumental sculptural pieces. 

Also, opening in April is “Selections from the Collection,” an exhibition that will “showcase the Museum’s rich ties to the California Light & Space movement and leading artists of our time.”

“With the Selldorf expansion, MCASD’s flagship building is, at last, scaled to showcase the work it has collected over the past decades,” elaborated Kathryn Kanjo, David C. Copley Director and CEO of MCASD. 

“Soaring ceilings and natural light allow for inviting displays of the collection alongside lively changing exhibitions. 

“The design honors the Museum’s rich architectural history as it frames distinctive views of the village and the coast, providing an updated space for the art and for today’s audience.” 

“We look forward to inviting the public to explore our world, our region, and ourselves through the prism of contemporary art.”

Project: Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego Renovation
Architects: Selldorf Architects
Original Architects: Irving Gill (1916)
Renovation Architects: Mosher & Drew (now Architects Mosher Drew)
Renovation Architects: Venturi Scott Brown & Associates (circa 1990s)
Original Landscape Architects: Garbini & Garbini Landscape Architects, Inc. (1930s)
General Contractor: Level 10 Construction
Client: Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego