In addition to adding to Buffalo’s remarkable architectural legacy, the museum aspires to improve its campus by:
- Building an underground parking structure and transforming the surface parking lot into a vibrant green landscape and gathering place, a green plaza
- Opening a route through the museum from Elmwood Avenue to Olmsted’s Delaware Park, adding a new point of entry and exit on the east façade of the museum’s 1962 Building
- Covering the 1962 Building’s open-air Sculpture Garden to create an Indoor Town Square, a new space for year-round civic engagement, open free of charge to the community during museum and program hours
- Creating a new education wing in the lower level of the 1962 Building
- Constructing a signature scenic bridge that connects the new north building with the 1905 Building
In April 2019, the museum announced that artist Olafur Eliasson and architect Sebastian Behmann, founding partners of Studio Other Spaces, have proposed a breathtaking work of art to cover the Indoor Town Square. Entitled Common sky, the design is inspired by the weather of Buffalo and the museum’s lush park surroundings.
On November 4, 2019, the Albright-Knox's Elmwood Avenue campus closed for construction and on November 22, Albright-Knox leaders and elected officials broke ground on the project. Our construction partners include Gilbane Building Company, ARC Building Partners, and Cooper Robertson.
Gilbane has completed mass excavation and concrete foundation work for the new Gundlach Building. They are currently pouring the concrete foundation walls and will begin erecting steel in spring 2021. Construction will only occur between the hours of 7 am and 5:30 pm, Monday through Friday. Contact us using our online form to ask questions or sign up to receive updates on the project.
The new Buffalo AKG Art Museum will open in 2022.