Expansion of the ever-popular Chrysler Museum Perry Glass Studio represents an exciting future for the Museum and recognition of the distinguished international reputation of the glass-making program. The schematic design by Work Program Architects calls for a new building adjacent to the existing glass studio. This renovation and new addition will put the glass-making process on display, feature the history of glass as an artistic medium, and accommodate art objects. The program includes a theater-style performance hot shop, retail, gallery, classrooms, research lab, roof garden, catering kitchen, and event space. It will be a bold extension of the Museum and its educational programs.
The project will create a new Museum “face” on Duke Street, featuring layers of transparency. It will have no front or back, but will be attractive from all sides, and create a formal connection between the glass studios and the Museum, with views of the glass furnaces visible from the Museum. It also will connect with Norfolk’s NEON District on a path marked with a series of glass “breadcrumbs” for wayfinding. At “ground zero” for Norfolk’s flooding challenges, the new structure will employ strategies to handle rainwater, and it will be elevated four feet above the existing glass studio in order to be resilient to repeat nuisance flooding events in the District. The Museum currently is in a fund-raising phase so that Design Development can begin.
