Another bad review: The inside of the Bloch building looks like a rat maze



A local blogger went to see the new Bloch addition to the Nelson-Atkins museum this weekend and she liked it . . . I did the same thing as well and I wasn't so impressed.

Yes, there is a lot of light inside the building but the same thing can be said of most garden sheds . . . It's pretty big but so are most warehouses . . . And most importantly there was absolutely no sense of flow or purpose to the building, I don't know if that's a problem that should be blamed on the architecture or the haphazard way in which the exhibits were arranged. Put simply, the thing felt like a maze . . . On a trek up the second floor I was expecting another level and the only thing that was there was a restroom (to be fair it was the nicest public toilet I've ever seen) . . . Sadly, the piece of cheese that I was hoping for was not where to be found.

But the thing that really struck me about the place was when I walked into the old building and I immediately had a sense that I was inside a structure that was more thoughtfully planned, that was worth more, that was a Kansas City institution and not just a flashy design that already seemed dated.

Comments

  1. If all you found on the second floor was a restroom, then no doubt you were lost in the rest of the building. One of the most important art reference libraries in the country is on the second floor of the building. Way to not look past the end of your nose. And as far as the collection layouts, did you even go in the galleries? It's so Kansas City to say, if it doesn't look exactly like something we did 100 years ago then it doesn't work, it's wrong. Wake up people, the world has evolved and so should you.

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  2. Tony found more than I did, I couldn't even find the restroom. As for all that work we got, what, 3 extra rooms of gallery space? It was a pretty underwhelming expansion.

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  3. yawnn... more whiny "I don't like the new addition because of it's modern architecture."

    You probably didn't even ask one of the docent's for a map.

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  4. There is more to an expansion than just public space. In the Bloch Building, there is also more room for library resources in the new stacks, art storage and viewing, conservation and fabrication and office space.

    The new galleries are much larger and therefore more art in the permanent collection can be viewed by the public (for free!). The modern & contemporary and African art has never looked so stunning.

    Don't forget that the expansion also includes the parking garage, the Ford Learning Center, the KC Sculpture Park and the refurbishment of Atkins Auditorium and several galleries in the original building. It has to be viewed as a campus-wide project.

    That being said, the greatest thing about art and architecture is that it means different things to different people. As long as it is provoking a reaction--good or bad--it serves its purpose. And remember that 10 years ago, everybody hated the Shuttlecocks and now they have become icons for Kansas City.

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  5. What the F are you talking about?

    In the new expansion, you walk a pretty straight line through all the galleries, when you get to the end, you go outside or turnaround. Sounds pretty simple to me.

    Meanwhile, in the old Nelson, it's tiny room after tiny room and long hallway after long hallway that all look exactly the same. After 30 minutes in there, I had absolutely no clue where I was.

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  6. That's an interesting modification on my original photo.

    In any event, I thought it was worth the road trip from T-Town to check out a museum that ended-up making me lose track of time (we spent quite a few hours in the Bloch addition and the Nelson-Atkins).

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