The Art Institute of Chicago opened its Modern Wing in 2009, a stunning 264,000 square foot expansion designed by the Pritzker Prize-winning architect Renzo Piano. The wing is devoted to the museum’s modern and contemporary art, photography and design collections. The Art Institute has long been one of the world’s great encyclopedic museums, and the addition of the wing officially makes it the second-largest art museum in the U.S. As part of the expansion Abbott Miller was commissioned to create a new identity for the museum as well as a comprehensive program of interior and exterior environmental graphics. The Art Institute is well known for its holdings in Impressionist and Post Impressionist art, but it also has a strong commitment to design and possesses one of the best design and architecture collections in the country. (Miller has several pieces in the museum’s permanent collection.) “The Art Institute was an incredible influence on me,” Miller said. “I grew up at that museum, and it continues to be my favorite art museum experience in my favorite American city.” The signage has been fully integrated with the architecture of Piano’s addition, using aluminum, limestone and glass to provide an interplay between solid and engraved elements, as well as linear and transparent elements. Miller and his team also developed a complete program of wayfinding, directories and donor signage for the entire museum, as well as several donor walls in the Griffin Court, the soaring central space of the Modern Wing. A large-scale installation on the wing’s exterior was developed when the team discovered that the words “Art Institute of Chicago” fit exactly within the mullions of what Piano refers as the “light box” at the top of the wing. These three-dimensional letterforms are applied to the front and the back of the glass, and in certain lighting conditions appear to float in air. This highly visible installation runs along the Nichols Bridgeway, a walkway that connects the sculpture garden on the roof of the wing to Millennium Park, adjacent to the museum. Project Team: Abbott Miller, partner-in-charge and designer; Jeremy Hoffman, Kristen Spilman, Susan Brzozowski, designers. Text and photos copyright of Pentagram.comTHE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO
