Walker Art Center Campus

The landscape design of the Walker Art Center addresses the renowned museum (Barnes, 1971), its extension (Herzog & De Meuron, 2005) and the surrounding greenscape, seeking for an integration between interior and exterior spaces in order to offer an encompassing art experience to enthusiastic visitors.The previously uncharacterized open field is turned into an iconic hill, fulfilling the ambition of the Walker Art Center to become a cultural space that is open to locals and tourists of all backgrounds, whilst giving voice to a variety of artistic expressions ranging from visual arts, to performing arts, film and design. The hill, valued for its openness, flexibility and visibility, acts as a non-volume in countering the imposing mass of the museum buildings. This vast urban landscape is activated through a careful selection of planting, an extensive network of connections and the curated placement of sculptures and installations. Trees and plants are composed as scattered rectangular groupings, each one with a unique identity. These ‘vegetal volumes’, almost like rooms, are linked through paths, ramps, stairs and clear reference points, offering the public a comprehensive spatial experience of ephemeral happenings, works of art, emblematic architecture and the larger urban context. Moreover, the improvement of circulation in the area gives the possibility to introduce new, unexpected viewpoints –especially between inside and outside– and to complement the indoor museum spaces with atmospheric outdoor settings, to be used for open air performances and events.