A Spanish design firm, Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos (NSA), has been chosen as the winner of the Reimagining the Dallas Museum of Art (DMA) International Design Competition among five renowned shortlisted candidates.
The other five finalist teams were led by David Chipperfield Architects (London); Diller Scofidio + Renfro (New York); Johnston Marklee (Los Angele); Michael Maltzan Architecture (Los Angeles); and Weiss/Manfredi (New York). An honorarium of $50,000, along with up to $10,000 for expenses, will now be paid to each of the six finalist teams for their design work.
The decision of the winning design by the museum’s Architect Selection Committee (ASC) was ratified by the DMA Board of Trustees, and this concluded the six-month international competition, which launched in February 2023 and attracted 154 submissions from around the world, resulting in a shortlist of renowned U.S. and international teams.
Known for their dynamic and innovative facades at the Contemporary Art Centre in Cordoba, Spain, and the Montblanc Haus in Hamburg, Germany, the winning design firm has previously received accolades including the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, the Hannes Meyer Prize, the Alvar Aalto Medal, and the Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts from the Government of Spain.
The winning concept design was embraced by the ASC because it provides potential solutions to address circulation, sustainability, and gallery expansion while respecting the existing building. It honors the original architect’s design intent and introduces a new floating gallery on the roof. The committee was also attracted to the balance created by the proposed north and south facades.
NSA’s design includes enhancing the interior street by bringing light in from above, improving accessibility by rationalizing the stepped ground floor ramp and gallery half levels, and making visual connections through the entire building’s north and south.
The design unifies the vertical circulation and references the interior street so visitors can easily orient themselves. Two new dynamic facades reinstate visibility and identity equally from the south at Ross Avenue Plaza (currently underplayed) and the north end at Woodall Rodgers.
The concept addresses the need for expanded gallery space by creating a dramatic floating square extension on the roof—reflecting Barnes’s square grid—creating a huge flexible space for displaying contemporary art. The extension also incorporates an events space and restaurant, with a roof terrace overlooking Klyde Warren Park. Education and performance spaces are arranged along Harwood Street, with street level glazing encouraging curiosity and opportunities for activation of the Flora and Fleischner courtyards. A new covered loading dock with facilities for conservation and staff offices infill the underused area off North St Paul Street.
The principles of sustainability are addressed impactfully with the decision to retain much of the original building’s embodied carbon by limiting changes to the existing structure and fabric, which is further enhanced by an integrated approach to rainfall collection, bioclimatic design, and electricity generation through photovoltaics (PV) and geothermal energy.
“We warmly congratulate Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos. Their concept design mixes a poetic sensibility with a dynamic and sustainable design strategy that respects Barnes’s original intentions, all the while preparing us to become a 21st-century museum,” says the president of the DMA’s Board of Trustees, Gowri N. Sharma, and chairman of the board, Jeffrey S. Ellerman.
