The new Aspen Art Museum, for which plans have recently been approved,will be Shigeru Ban’s first US museum project.
The museum will have about 3800 square metres of exhibition space and also include galleries, an exterior roof-deck sculpture garden, a classroom, bookshop, museum shop and restaurant. There will also be an art storage and preparation space.
Ban explains that his designs always strive “for a unified relationship between the structure and its surroundings”. The Aspen Art Museum will integrate elements of wood and glass for a transparent structure that allows Aspen’s beautiful landscape to be highlighted.
The transparency of the building will give passers-by and potential visitors the chance to experience a bit of the museum before even entering the space.
