Updates
May 16, 2013: Modelling 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]: Renovation is completed.
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.