The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is one of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian Art
Client: San Francisco International Airport
Location: San Mateo County, CA
In 1959, Chicago millionaire Avery Brundage and his wife, Elizabeth, agreed to donate the first part of his vast collection of Asian art to San Francisco on the condition that the City build a new museum wing. In 1966 a new museum opened in space constructed as a wing of the M.H. de Young Museum in Golden Gate Park. In 1987 San Francisco approved a plan for revitalization of Civic Center. The plan called for the construction of a new main public library across the street from the existing beaux art building. In 1994 voters overwhelmingly supported a bond measure to renovate the old Main Library as the future home of the Asian Art Museum.
The Main Library Building, which opened in 1917, was designed by architect George Kelham as part of San Francisco's master Civic Center plan. The overall civic complex is considered one of the Nation's outstanding examples of the City Beautiful movement spawned by the Chicago World's Fair of 1893. More than three dozen landmark features of the historic building have been preserved, cleaned, and restored to their original brilliance as part of the new Asian Art Museum which opened in March 2003. The museum is approximately 185,000 gross sq ft and 165,000 net sq ft.
For the design and relocation of the former Main Library to the Asian Art Museum, AGS provided a range of civil engineering and construction administration services, including the preparation of schematic design, design development, and preparation of construction documents. This structure now incorporates more stringent ADA requirements for City and County of San Francisco public projects than required at State and Federal levels.
