Herzog & de Meuron's new art museum almost ready

Herzog & de Meuron's long awaited Parrish Art museum on Long Island will finally open this November

After a long and occasionally difficult design process, Herzog & De Meuron’s Parrish Art Museum is set to open in Southampton, Long Island on November 10. The project will become the first art museum to be built on the East End of Long Island in more than a century, and will become the most recognisable architectural landmark in the region.

“We could not be prouder of this amazing accomplishment,” Director Terrie Sultan said. “The new building is a beautiful embodiment of the creative legacy of the East End. The Parrish will take its place as a real center for cultural engagement for the entire East End.” The 34,400 sqf building is nearly double the size of the existing facility in Southampton, allowing the museum to showcase some of its collection of more than 2,600 works to be shown for the first time in the museum’s 115-year history.

The project includes a flexible 2,400 square foot multipurpose room, a café which can open onto an expansive covered terrace, and a walkway to allow for contemplation of the surrounding landscape designed by Reed Hilderbrand. The museum rests within an environment of meadow, wetland and scrub woodland, and affords expansive views of the sky and horizon. The galleries are the heart and soul of the new Museum,” said Alicia Longwell, Chief Curator of Art and Education. “Now, for the first time, the Parrish will have the wherewithal to make available on a permanent basis our distinguished collection of American art, while simultaneously presenting special exhibitions.”

While at 3,200 sq m the Parrish Art Museum seems a surprisingly low-key project for the internationally renowned practice, its rich context set in the Hamptons’ artist community, which blossomed during the Sixties and Seventies with residents that included Roy Lichtenstein and Jackson Pollock, is closely aligned with Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron’s approach to design - also inextricably linked to art. Says critic and former curator at the Parrish, Alastair Gordon. "It is a convergence of creativity and invention in one place."

ConcreteEdited by William Hall, with an essay by Leonard Koren

This book is a celebration of concrete: collating fascinating and beautiful images of concrete structures from the breathtaking New York Guggenheim to coldly functional aircraft hangars, Concrete will engage anyone interested in architecture and encourage them to think about the sculptural qualities of buildings. Familiar icons by Le Corbusier and Tadao Ando are featured alongside vernacular structures such as petrol stations, vast power plants and London Zoo’s famous penguin pool. Specifications:

Format: Hardback
Size: 290 × 250 mm (11 3/8 × 9 7/8 in)
Pages: 240 pp
Illustrations: 175 illustrations
ISBN: 9780714863542

William Hall trained at Central Saint Martins and began his career in the office of the minimalist architect John Pawson. Formerly a Design Director at Phaidon Press, Hall now runs his own design practice in London, working with clients such as Calvin Klein, Henry Moore Institute and Tate.

Leonard Koren has written and designed a number of books including Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers. In 1976, two years after studying architecture at UCLA, he founded WET, one of the premier avant-garde publications of the 1970s. He now consults on the subject of design, aesthetics, and communications. He lives in San Francisco.

"Concrete is a beautifully designed book. It is also a thought-provoking exploration of an important subject."—John Pawson

"What a surprising and beautiful book – a parade of amazing buildings."—Peter York

"Yes, concrete can be cold and imposing - but as the 175 structures in the book attest, it can also be colorful, playful, and delicate."—Wall Street Journal

"The eye candy here, from the graceful to the brash is enough to open the mind of any skeptic."—Atlantic Cities

"Afresh look at [...] the world's most versatile and abundant building material... Urges us to reconsider its merits and its contribution to architecture... A global tour of inspiring and intriguing structures."—Self Build & Design

"Concrete has acquired a reputation as a cheap and bland building material. This book sets the record straight, putting forward 100 years worth of elegant, exciting and at times poetic architectural masterpieces."—David Nicholls, Daily Telegraph

"Superbly illustrated... Many of the world's best architectural photographers who have caught the play of light and shade, the elemental shapes, the smooth or artfully roughened surfaces to suggest an architecture of pristine, lasting beauty."—Marcus Binney, The Times

"The sweeping survey of buildings featured in Concrete illustrates the material's chameleonlike versatility, from the Pantheon's coffered dome to Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye."—ELLE Decor

"The book is a vivid reminder of the sheer endurance, unexpected delicacy, and humor of architecture's humble hero."—Architectural Digest