The University of
Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology was founded in 1895
and is now one of the preeminent museums of its type. The Roman-inspired,
eclectic-style museum building was designed collaboratively by Wilson
Eyre, Jr., Frank Miles Day, and Cope and Stewardson. Following the
original master plan, this same team of Philadelphia architects enlarged
the Museum in 1915, 1924 and 1926. In 1971 a modernist academic wing was
added to the building by Mitchell Giurgola
Associates.
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Atkin Olshin Lawson-Bell Architects was commissioned by the
Museum to design the new Mainwaring Wing for collections storage and study
which includes storage and work areas, study and seminar rooms, and office
spaces. The Mainwaring Wing is sited to complement the original master
plan for the building. The addition houses state-of-the-art, high density
storage facilities for the world-renowned ethnographic collections and
includes the most advanced systems of mechanical, environmental, security,
and fire protection controls.
The Mainwaring Wing connects to the
existing Museum on two levels and provides an oversized elevator for
accessibility and moving the collection. The exterior of the addition
mediates between the detailed traditional masonry of the original
buildings and the modern facade of the academic wing. The building has an
expressed, poured-in-place concrete frame clad in brick, limestone and
metal panels.
--Atkin, Olshin, Lawson-Bell and Associates, architects
MAINWARING MAIN
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