Wings Over Akron

COURTESY ISOCHROME=.COM 

The Akron Museum of Art, designed by the Vienna-based firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, has announced that its long-awaited expansion will open in July 2007. The project is budgeted at $42 million, and will add more than 63,000 square feet to the 21,000 square feet of its existing home, a 19th-century Renaissance building that was once the city’s post office. Coop Himmelb(l)au’s design for the new addition includes exhibition spaces, an auditorium, and public spaces, all incorporated in the dramatic design, which features a 300-foot armature, cantilevered over the old building.