Foreign Office Architects to Design New Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland

Unveiled this month, the new design for Cleveland’s Museum of Contemporary Art by Foreign Office Architects (FOA) will be the first major building in the U.S. for the internationally-acclaimed London-based firm. It will be a first for MOCA, too, as for the first time in its some-40-year history, the museum will have a street presence.

FOA’s design for the 34,000-square-foot facility is a direct response to the site’s triangular shape: the plan features a complementary geometric volume that starts with a hexagonal base and seemingly shifts as the building rises four stories to create six facets. Mirror-finish black stainless steel, which changes appearance according to light and weather conditions, will clad the exterior; in the evenings, interior lights will create a dynamic pattern against the dark facade. Three of the building’s facets will flank the main entrance, as well as a public plaza that will set the stage for MOCA’s seasonal programming.

“Museums today are not just homes for art, but serve multiple functions and host a variety of activities,” says FOA principal Farshid Moussavi. “Our design for MOCA Cleveland aims to provide visitors with a museum that is a dynamic public space in which to experience contemporary art in its infinite manifestations.”

Inside, visitors will encounter an atrium lobby, cafe, museum shop, and a double-height multipurpose space for public programs. A monumental staircase will lead to the administrative offices, lecture rooms, operations spaces, and galleries, the latter of which will feature movable walls as the museum is a non-collecting institution.

“Flexibility is key to a program that, like ours, embraces aesthetic, conceptual, and cultural diversity, and displays works in a great variety of mediums and genres,” states MOCA director Jill Snyder.

Scheduled to break ground this fall/winter season, the project will be 40-percent larger than the current leased facility, and is part of a major urban revitalization initiative in Cleveland’s Uptown district. The design team, who worked with executive and local architect Westlake Reed Leskosky, hopes MOCA will attain a LEED silver rating upon completion.