We believe that a great art museum fosters outstanding encounters with art. Four principal design concepts distinguish a great art museum:

1. While it is important for a museum to be functional and appropriate for its context, the museum building itself should be a work of art, expressing and embodying its very purpose from the outside to the inside. The architecture of a museum should prepare the visitor for the aesthetic experience to be had within by also being a source of beauty and inspiration.

2. Every aspect of the museum should work in concert to prepare viewers for that “aesthetic moment” when a work of art speaks to them in purely visual, emotional or intellectual terms. Every element, from the building’s massing down to the smallest details of the visitors’ experience, should be orchestrated to contribute to a positive encounter between the visitor and art.

3. A committed understanding of the fundamental importance of the qualities of light that enhance art and support the act of seeing. To experience art fully, proper lighting is absolutely essential. Appropriate selection of both indirect natural lighting and supplemental artifcial lighting heightens the  visitor’s experience, while responsibly protecting the art. Controlled use of natural light is also essential in other areas where it enhances activities, defines architectural space, and creates comfortable transitions from the exterior world to the gallery interior.

4. Behind the scenes, flawless care and protection of the collection is critical. The spaces where the art enters the building, where it is stored, where it is viewed by scholars, curators and researchers and where all the other support functions occur, should similarly work in concert to meet the museum’s primary objectives.

VernerJohnson’s guiding architectural philosophy centers on the desire to make each museum design a unique fit to its particular circumstances. Because each of our projects have their own specific goals, context and focus, each of our design are quite different from each other. We do not have a firm “style” or “look” that we adhere to, but rather we work to develop a unique expression for each museum.