This morning I attended a guided walk-through of the new Chase Center Museum of Art in Providence RI. The building is a long awaited extension for the RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) art collection on what previously was an urban parking lot. Designed by the office of Architect Rafael Moneo (the 1996 Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate) as a modern addition to the historical street-scape of downtown Providence, the building creates a new vision of modernity that compliments the growing status of an evolving city.

The event, led by Museum Assistant Director, James Hall, covered the history of the building’s site since WWII and the characteristics of the new spaces. The five story building features a first level that was purposely designed to function while the rest of the Museum spaces are closed, providing a new “civic space” for the community. The first level includes the main entrance, gift shop, and auditorium. The second floor contains the student gallery and is finished with bare concrete floors and open ceilings that allow just about any type of exhibit to be accommodated, without worry of damaging floor, wall and ceiling finishes that may otherwise require replacement. Adjacent to the student gallery is an outdoor space, covered by the floor above. This space is a useful instrument to the understanding of how this modern building created a marriage between old and new. Looking around one can see exterior walls of buildings hundreds of years older. The featured main gallery is placed on the third level and is accessed from the first level by means of a three story escalator. Most visitors will begin by viewing the third level and then the student gallery on the second floor. The fourth and fifth levels are reserved for staff and RISD students. read more »