Expanding the Center

The Walker Art Center recently opened its expanded space, which includes a new theater, a new restaurant and more galleries, but is best known for being Herzog & de Meuron's first public building in the United States. The project drew national coverage from media including The New York Times. Expanding the Center addresses this public interest in the building with a generous selection of images, including sketches, renderings and photographs of the construction process and the completed work. Herzog & de Meuron's shimmering but grounded design mirrors the textures and shades of the Walker's original space, and an institutional philosophy based in innovation and risk-taking, the exploration of alternative approaches to learning, the experimental use of technologies to communicate information, and the design of spaces to enhance a variety of museum experiences. The book is organized around the decisions and actions of the architects, builders, Walker staff and the audience--i.e. designing, constructing, unveiling, staging, gathering, patterning, framing, collecting--and highlights the thinking that led to the visible form of the Center as well as the innovative projects and initiatives that give it its inimitable character.