The addition and renovation of Saarinens Library and Museum at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield, Michigan aims to integrate a new building into the existing fabric of a campus. The new building is an extension of the Art Academys purpose. In order to designate an appropriate site for this new addition to the Cranbrook campus, a careful evaluation of the Cranbrook landscape was undertaken. This investigation revealed three distinct landscapes within the campus. The new museum and library acts as a mediator between two of these; the orthogonal landscape of the Academy of Art and the picturesque landscape to the east of the campus grounds. The new building also respects an existing east-west datum, creating a plaza between the two programmatic elements (the library and the museum). In order to further mediate the relationship between the two landscapes, a new north-south datum is established at the museums edge, creating a pathway into the picturesque landscape. The new datum terminates into the circulation core of the library which is a triple-height volume containing a large central stair connecting all the levels of the library. The museums galleries are split into two volumes; one relating to the campus, and the relating to the picturesque landscape beyond. This split in elevation is acknowledged by a light well that visitors pass through via ramps to get to either side. At the end of the campus gallery sequence, the Cranbrook room provides in-depth information about the campus and wide views out to the landscape.
The back walkway connects Cranbrook's main campus to the newly added Science campus.
Section through the Museum showing framed views to the orthogonal landscape of
Third floor plan of Museum addition in relation to Saarinen's existing museum on the Cranbrook campus.
View of Saarinen's Library and Museum from the Cranbrook Archives.
Detail section of the framed views back to campus.
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