Austin's New Arthouse

Tags:: Design; Architecture; Culture; Architect

This past October, the city of Austin celebrated the reopening of Arthouse at the Jones Center—the oldest contemporary art organization in Texas. New York-based architects Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis tripled the size of the original building, which was a theater in the 1920's, a department store starting in the 1950's, and a cultural center starting in 1995. The building's latest incarnation retains a sense of its layered history (original frescos in the upstairs gallery, for example) while pushing the design in a decidedly futuristic direction. Here's a glimpse of Austin's new architectural icon, with images by photographer Michael Moran.

— Jaime Gillin

An aerial view of the new 20,830 square foot building at 700 Congress Avenue in downtown Austin.

Photo by: Michael Moran

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jcross02.22.2011

Architecturally interesting. I love the stair case. The exposed wall structure is nice in the dinning area, though I think it is a bit excessive in the gallery space where focus should be on the art not the building. Great building for Austin.
Jennifer Gardner02.22.2011

Thanks for the comment jcross - come and visit, if you haven't yet! Just to clarify - that movable wall in the second floor gallery can be positioned to create a more traditional white-box gallery. It's up to the curatorial staff - and the artists - whether or not they want the artwork on view to have a dialogue with the architecture. For Jason Middlebrook's exhibition, it was crucial that the wall be exposed. For the current exhibition (Graham Hudson) the gallery is a white box.
jcross02.22.2011

That sounds great, smart too, the space adapts to the needs of the exhibition! And yes, another excuse to drive down from Dallas.
Lena03.14.2012

Can't wait to see the arthouse in person.....the stairs are amazing....

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