Williams College: The Latest Architecture and News

Brooklyn-based firm SO-IL has revealed the design for a new campus art museum at Williams College in Massachusetts, created to become a primary teaching resource for the institution renowned for its art history program. Since its inauguration in 1926, the Williams College Museum of Art has gathered an expansive collection of over 15,000 works. Through the design of SO-IL, the museum will be able to move into its first freestanding purpose-built home. In May 2024, the museum will present an exhibition on SO-IL’s design.

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SO-IL Architects has been chosen to develop the conceptual design for a new building for the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) in Williamstown, Massachusetts. The project is set to provide the first stand-alone facility for WCMA, and will feature teaching spaces, collections, exhibitions and programs that will transform the museum’s engagement with the campus, as well as the Williamstown community and the Berkshires cultural region. The architecture firm was commended for its "inventive and enthusiastic approach to the museum’s teaching mission", putting art at the center of academia, student life, the campus, and community.

Steven Holl Architects (SHA) has been commissioned by Williams College to complete a program and masterplan study for the Williams College Department of Art and Museum of Art (WCMA). "The Master Plan aims to evaluate programming and space needs toward the determination of a program to catalyze the engagement of students, faculty and visitors with the visual arts," says SHA.

After talking with nearly 30 distinct groups of students, faculty and museum staff, SHA defined five main goals in which the study is based on: