The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art reopened
in 2016 with a ten story addition designed
by the Norwegian architects Snohetta.
The original building facing Third Street
was designed in 1995 by the Swiss architect
Mario Botta as a brick container for art with
a cylindrical atrium.
The facade is covered with rippling white
fiberglass reinforced plastic panels.
Snohetta reimagined the museum as a more welcoming
and public place with a gallery facing Howard
Street with Richard Serra’s “Sequence”
sculpture.
A series of stairs cascades down the side
of the building with large windows with views
out to the city beyond.
The circulation of large numbers of visitors
has been carefully thought out.
There is no shortage of good food nearby,
but the museum’s Cafe 5 next to the sculpture
garden has great food.
When we visited an exhibit of Rene Magritte
inspired the chef to create an interesting
apple dessert.
