The new East Wing of the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA), part of Rafael Vinoly's cut-throat regenerative plan for the facility, has been welcoming its first guests since opening late June.



Rafael Viñoly Architects’ design for the new East Wing forms part of an impressive seven year expansion and renovation project aimed at highlighting the original building as a 'jewel' set within a continuous ring of expansion space. The 139,200 sq ft East Wing connects CMA’s original 1916 Beaux-Arts building by local architects Hubbell & Benes and the 1971 addition by Marcel Breuer, creating spectacular new spaces for the presentation and conservation of one of the leading encyclopaedic art collections in the United States.



Viñoly's renovation plan was devised to revive the original design principles of the museum and involves renovating and in some cases demolishing several subsequent additions which have presented a 'disjointed and confusing warren of spaces'. The Breuer building is being renovated in this process but further demolished buildings will make way for a vast, indoor, sunlit piazza, topped by a gently curving canopy of glass and steel, around which the entire museum will be organized and create a natural meeting place and event space for large functions.