Tod Williams and Billie Tsien Design Expanded Hood Museum at Dartmouth College

The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire is undergoing a $50 million expansion and renovation designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien. The project, funded through private donations, will increase the museum's space by 42% to 5,800 square meters, adding six new galleries and three technologically equipped object-study rooms. Originally built in 1985 by Charles Moore, the museum houses over 65,000 artifacts and works spanning various media and historical periods. The renovated facility, set to reopen on January 26, 2019, will integrate restored existing structures with new construction, emphasizing educational use by students, faculty, and visitors. For the first time, works by Ed Ruscha, Mark Rothko, Alma Thomas, and Pat Steir will be displayed alongside collections ranging from Native American art to contemporary Australian Aboriginal art, European old masters, and African art. Williams stated that the design preserves many features of Moore's original building while creating a complementary dialogue between old and new, extending the institution's identity and functions into the future. The expansion is part of a broader trend of major U.S. cultural institutions undertaking ambitious building projects, such as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's Glassell School (designed by Steven Holl and Deborah Nevins, $450 million, completion by 2020) and the Dia Art Foundation's $78 million renovation of its Chelsea, Beacon, and Soho spaces.