Newly unveiled renderings show what the latest museum to hit Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway will look like.
Calder Gardens, scheduled to open in 2024, will highlight the art and ideas of Alexander Calder, an abstract sculptor and painter and a native Philadelphian. The 1.8-acre site will feature both indoor and outdoor works.
“Featuring galleries illuminated by natural light, in a structure ensconced in a flowing landscape of native and flowering species, Calder Gardens will present a rotating selection of masterworks from the Calder Foundation, New York, including mobiles, stabiles, monumental sculptures, and paintings,” the Calder Foundation said in a press release.
The 18,00-square-foot building, designed by architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, will be surrounding by meadow-like gardens from Dutch landscape designer Piet Oudolf, with the goal of providing visitors a place for contemplation and reflection.
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Calder Gardens will be located between 21st and 22nd streets, across the street from the Barnes Foundation. The museum will feature inclusive public programs and special events, according to the Calder Foundation.
Calder was born in Philadelphia in 1898 to a sculptor father and painter mother. Three generations of Calder work are already located along the Ben Franklin Parkway: atop City Hall is the statue of William Penn by Calder’s grandfather, Alexander Milne Calder; Logan Circle features the Swann Memorial Fountain by Calder’s father, Alexander Stirling Calder; and Calder’s “The Ghost” sculpture hangs in the main hall of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Below is a glimpse of what Calder Gardens will look like when it opens:
