The re-imagined Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA), designed by Studio Gang and SCAPE, reached a major construction benchmark with the completion of its signature roof last week and announced an opening date of May 2022.
The new roofline blossoms out onto nearly 14 acres of new public landscape to the North and South of the Museum designed by SCAPE and inspired by the native ecologies of rural Arkansas, bridging a renewed connection between downtown Little Rock and MacArthur Park. The design preserves all mature trees on site, adding nearly 250 new trees that will merge with the existing canopy to create a true ‘museum in the park.’
At the Museum’s Southern entrance, a series of lush rain gardens will absorb stormwater runoff from the roof’s folded edge, with over 50 species of perennials, shrubs, native trees and ornamental grasses planted across the grounds. The signature folded-plate roof design by Studio Gang will be iterated at the ground level in native stone hardscape elements, including petal-shaped seatwalls with sandstone splash pads.
You can read more about the latest construction benchmark in The Architect’s Newspaper, Dezeen, and Designboom.
Stay tuned in the coming months for construction updates on the landscape surrounding the Museum via SCAPE’s social feeds!
Photo courtesy Tim Hursley / Studio Gang.