Preserving Modernism: Resolving Preservation and Modernization Challenges for the Hirshhorn Museum Envelope
Rescheduled from 13 December 2024.
The Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC, is a landmark of Brutalist architecture that serves as the Smithsonian Institution’s museum of contemporary and modern art. Designed by Gordon Bunshaft of SOM and opened in 1974, this architectural gem reflects the building enclosure technology of its era—lacking a reasonable thermal envelope, workable air barriers, and efficient glazing. In addition to these issues, its precast facade also developed attachment problems. The Smithsonian was adamant that any repairs to the building needed to stay true to Bunshaft’s vision and engaged a project team to design repairs and resolve these challenges.
In this webinar, we will discuss this intricate enclosure analysis, design, and repair construction effort and share how the project team met the Smithsonian’s high expectations. Niklas and Kirill will describe the building’s performance issues, the technical analysis and decision-making process applicable to rehabilitating a historic icon housing a high-performance building, and the technical solutions implemented during its rehabilitation.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After attending this webinar, participants will be able to:
- Identify critical building enclosure performance characteristics for museums.
- Identify inevitable performance shortcomings of historic buildings.
- Conceptualize technical repair solutions that are appropriate for architecturally significant buildings.
- Reason through constructability analysis steps to predict and mitigate construction issues during the design phase.
Participants will earn 1 AIA CES Learning Unit (LU/HSW) for attending the live webinar. Registration is free. Please note that space is limited – email events@sgh.com to join our waitlist if the session is closed when you register.
About the Speaker
Page
Kirill Pivovarov is an award-winning architect and Principal at Page, a national architecture firm active in the design and rehabilitation of culturally significant buildings. Kirill has dedicated his career to the modernization and rehabilitation of numerous cultural landmarks, including the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center and the revitalization of the Smithsonian Institution Historic Core. Most recently, while working with Arcadis, he served as lead architect for the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum envelope modernization project. Kirill’s passion for design and sustainability is reflected in his creative approach, combining contemporary innovation with the careful preservation of historic fabric.
Niklas Vigener has led many of Simpson Gumpertz & Heger’s most notable building technology and historic preservation projects, and has a particular interest in rehabilitating historic buildings to incorporate high-performance building enclosures. He was trained as a structural engineer and specializes in projects investigating and rehabilitating institutional masonry buildings. Nik has also held adjunct engineering faculty positions and has lectured widely on technical and leadership topics.
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