KMAC Museum Louisville, West Main Street Historic District Kentucky architecture, Architects, United States of America historic cast-iron property

KMAC Museum Louisville, Kentucky Building

West Main Street Historic District Building Development design by Christoff : Finio Architecture, USA

Jul 30, 2017

KMAC Museum Louisville Building

Architects: Christoff : Finio Architecture ; Associate Architects: K. Norman Berry Associates

Location: West Main Street Historic District, downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States of America

KMAC Museum Louisville, Kentucky Building

Photos by Kevin Kunstadt

KMAC Museum in Louisville

The KMAC Museum was founded in 2001 in Louisville, Kentucky to build interest in the region’s craft heritage. Since then, the Museum’s mission has expanded, exploring the intersections between making and contemporary art.

The 20,000-square foot space is located in a historic cast-iron building in downtown Louisville’s West Main Street Historic District. The goal of this gut-renovation was to restore the strength and clarity of the original building while at the same time creating a dynamic new space for the display of contemporary art and performance.

Important to the museum was an improved street presence that would further establish its position in Louisville, at the scale of both the city and the pedestrian.

KMAC Museum Louisville, Kentucky Building KMAC Museum Louisville, Kentucky Building

To accomplish this, the architects sought to enliven the façade by moving the main stair from the middle of the space directly adjacent to the street, making it visible to the outside.

KMAC Museum Louisville, Kentucky Building

This new, weathered steel stair visually connects the three public floors of the museum, unapologetically displaying its raw materiality. Similarly, a new entry “sleeve” of the same material projects through one of the cast iron bays. An uninterrupted, three-story Art Wall rises alongside the stair, a vertical exhibition space acting in counterpoint to the horizontal galleries and expanding on the opportunities for curation.

A modest budget and narrow timeline demanded resourcefulness. Every effort was made to open each floor across its full length, allowing visitors to make a visual connection to the street at one end and the river at the other, and connecting the art to both.

KMAC Museum Louisville, Kentucky Building

KMAC Museum Renovation in Louisville – Building Information

KMAC MUSEUM RENOVATION, Louisville, Kentucky | 2016
Client: KMAC Museum
Architects: Christoff : Finio Architecture
Associate Architects: K. Norman Berry Associates
Client: KMAC Museum
General Contractor: Bosse Mattingly Constructors

Photographers: Kevin Kunstadt

Location: Loisville, Kentucky, USA

Kentucky Buildings

Kentucky Architecture

Kentucky Building Designs – recent architectural selection from e-architect below:

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South Central Regional Library in Louisville interior
photographers : Brandon Stengel, Farm Kid Studios
South Central Regional – Louisville Free Public Library Building

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Developments in Neighbouring States to Kentucky

Illinois Buildings

Indiana Buildings

Iowa Buildings

Ohio Architecture

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Comments / photos for the KMAC Museum Louisville, Kentucky Architecture design by Christoff : Finio Architecture page welcome.