Updates
Blog: May 22—Building the Harvard Art Museums: The Tradesmen’s Perspective
May 16, 2013—Modeling the Museums
May 15, 2013—Closing Galleries before We Open Our Doors
April 26, 2013—From the Lumberyard to Harvard Yard
March 28, 2013—Preparing for the New Harvard Art Museums, Part II
March 6, 2013—A Gift from German Friends
February 21, 2013—The New Harvard Art Museums
November 26, 2012—Weathertight
November 6, 2012—Preparing for the New Harvard Art Museums
October 9, 2012—Renovation by the Numbers
July 31, 2012—State-of-the-Art Roof System
Timeline
1895: The original Fogg Museum of Art, designed by Richard Morris Hunt, opens on the present site of Canaday Hall in the College Yard.
1903: The Germanic Museum, later to be called the Busch-Reisinger Museum, is dedicated in Rogers Hall.
1921: The Germanic Museum moves to the new Adolphus Busch Hall, at 29 Kirkland Street.
1927: A distinctive new building for the Fogg Museum, designed by the firm Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch & Abbott, opens on the edge of Harvard Yard at 32 Quincy Street.
1950: The Germanic Museum is renamed the Busch-Reisinger Museum of Germanic Culture.
1982: The Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and (planned) Arthur M. Sackler museums are integrated into a single institution under the name Harvard University Art Museums, now Harvard Art Museums.
1985: The Arthur M. Sackler Museum, designed by the Pritzker Prize–winning British architect James Stirling, opens at 485 Broadway.
1991: The Busch-Reisinger Museum moves to Werner Otto Hall, a new addition to the building at 32 Quincy Street.
June 2008: The building at 32 Quincy Street closes to the public for the first time in its history, to undergo a major renovation and expansion project designed by internationally renowned architect Renzo Piano. When completed, the project will unite the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler museums in a single, state-of-the-art facility.
September 2008: The Arthur M. Sackler Museum is reinstalled and reopens with representative works from all three museums on long-term display during the renovation project.
January 2010: Following the largest collections move of its kind ever conducted in this country, work begins at the 32 Quincy Street site with selected demolition and abatement.
Fall 2010: The 1927 façade is reinforced with steel bracing and footings and the Calderwood Courtyard is weatherproofed.
January 2011: Work begins on the foundation.
August 2011: The site is excavated and the basement slab poured.
September 2011: New above ground construction begins.
February 2012: Structural steel erection begins.
June 2012: Work begins on new glass rooftop structure.
Fall 2012: Wood cladding installed on exterior of new Renzo Piano addition.
November 2012: Exterior building envelope complete, weather sealed.
June 2013: The Arthur M. Sackler Museum galleries close at the end of regular hours on June 1 in order to complete the final phases of the renovation and expansion, including the installation of the galleries in the new facility.
2013–14: Interior work and commissioning.
Fall 2014 [projected]: Opening.
The university has a comprehensive construction mitigation program. For updates on the details and progress of construction, please visit www.construction.harvard.edu/32quincyst/project-updates.html.