London’s Bankside Power Station stood disused from 1981 until 2000, when it opened to the public as The Tate Modern. Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron approached the conversion with a relatively light hand, creating a contemporary public space without diminishing the building's historical presence. The impressive cultural icon has since become the most visited museum of modern art in the world, revitalizing its formerly sequestered, industrial neighborhood.
The 101-year old historic building that houses the Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio has gone off grid, reports Candace Pearson of Architectural Record. Through a series of upgrades that began in the early ‘90s, including covering 60% of the roof with solar panels, the Toledo Museum has gone from purchasing 700,000 kW of electricity a month to returning energy back to the grid - making it an exemplar of adaptability and sustainability in century-old public buildings. Find out how they did it at Architectural Record.
NEW YORK–Although the American Folk Art Museum has avoided dissolution thanks to a cash infusion from trustees and the Ford Foundation, the institution’s ongoing financial troubles raise difficult questions about the relationship between signature architecture and cultural capital.
