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Take A Peek Inside the MFAH’s Completed Kinder Building

Visual ArtArts & Culture News
Emma Schkloven
Author: Emma Schkloven
12 min.read
1Welcome to the Kinder.
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from above.
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from above.
2Welcome to the Kinder.
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from above.
The Nancy and Rich Kinder Building at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from above.
3The Kinder Building as seen from the Cullen Sculpture Garden.
The sculpture garden was actually the hinge of architect Steven Holl’s design, said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow. “Holl has taken many of his cues for the Glassell School of Art and the Kinder Building from the forms that Noguchi built in 1986.”
The sculpture garden was actually the hinge of architect Steven Holl’s design, said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow. “Holl has taken many of his cues for the Glassell School of Art and the Kinder Building from the forms that Noguchi built in 1986.”
4The Kinder Building as seen from the Cullen Sculpture Garden.
The sculpture garden was actually the hinge of architect Steven Holl’s design, said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow. “Holl has taken many of his cues for the Glassell School of Art and the Kinder Building from the forms that Noguchi built in 1986.”
The sculpture garden was actually the hinge of architect Steven Holl’s design, said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow. “Holl has taken many of his cues for the Glassell School of Art and the Kinder Building from the forms that Noguchi built in 1986.”
5The vertical glass tubes on the outside of the building not only create a unique façade.
They provide natural light for the gallery and trap hot air, creating a “cool jacket” inside. Plus, they glow at night.
They provide natural light for the gallery and trap hot air, creating a “cool jacket” inside. Plus, they glow at night.
6The vertical glass tubes on the outside of the building not only create a unique façade.
They provide natural light for the gallery and trap hot air, creating a “cool jacket” inside. Plus, they glow at night.
They provide natural light for the gallery and trap hot air, creating a “cool jacket” inside. Plus, they glow at night.
7Cristina Iglesias’s bronze sculptural reflecting pool, "Inner Landscape (the lithosphere, the roots, the water)", 2020.
The pool’s placement on the Kinder’s new plaza at the Main Street doors gives the illusion that the building’s façade is doubled in size, Tinterow said. Rocky fissures and tangled roots jut from "Inner Landscape’s" calm waters, which flow and recede on a timed cycle.
The pool’s placement on the Kinder’s new plaza at the Main Street doors gives the illusion that the building’s façade is doubled in size, Tinterow said. Rocky fissures and tangled roots jut from “Inner Landscape’s” calm waters, which flow and recede on a timed cycle.
8Cristina Iglesias’s bronze sculptural reflecting pool, "Inner Landscape (the lithosphere, the roots, the water)", 2020.
The pool’s placement on the Kinder’s new plaza at the Main Street doors gives the illusion that the building’s façade is doubled in size, Tinterow said. Rocky fissures and tangled roots jut from "Inner Landscape’s" calm waters, which flow and recede on a timed cycle.
The pool’s placement on the Kinder’s new plaza at the Main Street doors gives the illusion that the building’s façade is doubled in size, Tinterow said. Rocky fissures and tangled roots jut from “Inner Landscape’s” calm waters, which flow and recede on a timed cycle.
9Now that's a ceiling.
Architect Steven Holl found inspiration in the billowing clouds that fill the Texas sky when designing the Kinder Building’s concave roof and inner curved ceiling panels. These varying levels actually control the flow of natural light into the gallery, while the underside acts as a light reflector. In addition to natural light, the gallery uses computerized LED lighting, which changes throughout the day and night to create the optimum ambiance for viewing the art, Tinterow said.
Architect Steven Holl found inspiration in the billowing clouds that fill the Texas sky when designing the Kinder Building’s concave roof and inner curved ceiling panels. These varying levels actually control the flow of natural light into the gallery, while the underside acts as a light reflector. In addition to natural light, the gallery uses computerized LED lighting, which changes throughout the day and night to create the optimum ambiance for viewing the art, Tinterow said.
10Now that's a ceiling.
Architect Steven Holl found inspiration in the billowing clouds that fill the Texas sky when designing the Kinder Building’s concave roof and inner curved ceiling panels. These varying levels actually control the flow of natural light into the gallery, while the underside acts as a light reflector. In addition to natural light, the gallery uses computerized LED lighting, which changes throughout the day and night to create the optimum ambiance for viewing the art, Tinterow said.
Architect Steven Holl found inspiration in the billowing clouds that fill the Texas sky when designing the Kinder Building’s concave roof and inner curved ceiling panels. These varying levels actually control the flow of natural light into the gallery, while the underside acts as a light reflector. In addition to natural light, the gallery uses computerized LED lighting, which changes throughout the day and night to create the optimum ambiance for viewing the art, Tinterow said.
11Ai Weiwei’s "Dragon Reflection," 2019-20, installation hangs in the Glassell School of Art's McNair Education Court, right before the tunnel that connects the Glassell with the new Kinder Building.
“Like so much of Weiwei’s work, it’s a marriage of the old and the new,” said Tinterow. “Not only the ancient image of the Chinese dragon, but also the materials of bamboo and silk which for millennia have been standards of Chinese manufacturing.”
“Like so much of Weiwei’s work, it’s a marriage of the old and the new,” said Tinterow. “Not only the ancient image of the Chinese dragon, but also the materials of bamboo and silk which for millennia have been standards of Chinese manufacturing.”
12Ai Weiwei’s "Dragon Reflection," 2019-20, installation hangs in the Glassell School of Art's McNair Education Court, right before the tunnel that connects the Glassell with the new Kinder Building.
“Like so much of Weiwei’s work, it’s a marriage of the old and the new,” said Tinterow. “Not only the ancient image of the Chinese dragon, but also the materials of bamboo and silk which for millennia have been standards of Chinese manufacturing.”
“Like so much of Weiwei’s work, it’s a marriage of the old and the new,” said Tinterow. “Not only the ancient image of the Chinese dragon, but also the materials of bamboo and silk which for millennia have been standards of Chinese manufacturing.”
13Tunnel installation: Ólafur Elíasson’s "Sometimes an underground movement is an illuminated bridge tunnel," 2020.
Elíasson’s optical illusion installation fills the tunnel that connects the Kinder Building to the Glassell School of Art. The Elíasson installation plays on the way our brain processes light, appearing yellow from the outside but turning black, white, and gray once entered.
Elíasson’s optical illusion installation fills the tunnel that connects the Kinder Building to the Glassell School of Art. The Elíasson installation plays on the way our brain processes light, appearing yellow from the outside but turning black, white, and gray once entered.
14Tunnel installation: Carlos Cruz-Diez’s "Cromosaturación MFAH," (Paris 1965/Houston 2017).
The Kinder’s second tunnel installation, which connects the new building with the Law Building, also plays with the way our brain processes light, Tinterow said. Someone walking through the tunnel can only see the color in which they’re being bathed even though the passage includes hues of blue, magenta, and green.
The Kinder’s second tunnel installation, which connects the new building with the Law Building, also plays with the way our brain processes light, Tinterow said. Someone walking through the tunnel can only see the color in which they’re being bathed even though the passage includes hues of blue, magenta, and green.
15Tunnel installation: Carlos Cruz-Diez’s "Cromosaturación MFAH," (Paris 1965/Houston 2017).
The Kinder’s second tunnel installation, which connects the new building with the Law Building, also plays with the way our brain processes light, Tinterow said. Someone walking through the tunnel can only see the color in which they’re being bathed even though the passage includes hues of blue, magenta, and green.
The Kinder’s second tunnel installation, which connects the new building with the Law Building, also plays with the way our brain processes light, Tinterow said. Someone walking through the tunnel can only see the color in which they’re being bathed even though the passage includes hues of blue, magenta, and green.
16Tunnel installation: Ólafur Elíasson’s "Sometimes an underground movement is an illuminated bridge tunnel," 2020.
Elíasson’s optical illusion installation fills the tunnel that connects the Kinder Building to the Glassell School of Art. The Elíasson installation plays on the way our brain processes light, appearing yellow from the outside but turning black, white, and gray once entered.
Elíasson’s optical illusion installation fills the tunnel that connects the Kinder Building to the Glassell School of Art. The Elíasson installation plays on the way our brain processes light, appearing yellow from the outside but turning black, white, and gray once entered.
17Alexander Calder’s "International Mobile," 1949, in the atrium of the MFAH’s Nancy and Rich Kinder Building.
Originally hung in Cullinan Hall, this mobile has actually occupied space in every one of the MFAH’s buildings at one point or another, but its new home in the Kinder offers viewers a different perspective with “three views on three floors,” said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow.
Originally hung in Cullinan Hall, this mobile has actually occupied space in every one of the MFAH’s buildings at one point or another, but its new home in the Kinder offers viewers a different perspective with “three views on three floors,” said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow.
18The Lynn Wyatt Theater on the lower level of the Kinder Building.
The space seats 215.
The space seats 215.
19The Lynn Wyatt Theater on the lower level of the Kinder Building.
The space seats 215.
The space seats 215.
20Gyula Kosice’s "The Hydrospatial City" inside the black box gallery on the Kinder’s first floor.
Believe it or not, plastic was actually a new medium when Kosice began creating his suspended extraterrestrial worlds in the 1940s.
Believe it or not, plastic was actually a new medium when Kosice began creating his suspended extraterrestrial worlds in the 1940s.
21The kinetic works of Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely in one of the Kinder Building’s street level galleries.
These galleries along Main Street will be illuminated at night, allowing passersby to see the works of art inside.
These galleries along Main Street will be illuminated at night, allowing passersby to see the works of art inside.
22The MFAH begins to tell the story of modernism ahead of World War I on the second floor of the Kinder Building.
“It was an international phenomenon,” said Tinterow. “New ways of seeing and thinking that was picked up by artists in all the world capitals.”
“It was an international phenomenon,” said Tinterow. “New ways of seeing and thinking that was picked up by artists in all the world capitals.”
23Gyula Kosice’s "The Hydrospatial City" inside the black box gallery on the Kinder’s first floor.
Believe it or not, plastic was actually a new medium when Kosice began creating his suspended extraterrestrial worlds in the 1940s.
Believe it or not, plastic was actually a new medium when Kosice began creating his suspended extraterrestrial worlds in the 1940s.
24Trenton Doyle Hancock’s "Color Flash for Chat and Chew, Paris Texas in Seventy-Two," 2019–2020.
Hancock’s colorful tapestry, which hangs in the Kinder Building’s restaurant, is made from wool, silk, and cotton and revisits a backdrop he created for a Ballet Austin production more than a decade ago.
Hancock’s colorful tapestry, which hangs in the Kinder Building’s restaurant, is made from wool, silk, and cotton and revisits a backdrop he created for a Ballet Austin production more than a decade ago.
25The MFAH begins to tell the story of modernism ahead of World War I on the second floor of the Kinder Building.
“It was an international phenomenon,” said Tinterow. “New ways of seeing and thinking that was picked up by artists in all the world capitals.”
“It was an international phenomenon,” said Tinterow. “New ways of seeing and thinking that was picked up by artists in all the world capitals.”
26The Latin American department galleries on the Kinder Building’s second floor.
Since 2000, the MFAH has been building a collection of South American art. “We can show the development of modernism in Brazil, in Uruguay, in Argentina, in Venezuela,” said Tinterow. “There’s no other museum on the planet that can tell that story in such depth and with such important works of art.”
Since 2000, the MFAH has been building a collection of South American art. “We can show the development of modernism in Brazil, in Uruguay, in Argentina, in Venezuela,” said Tinterow. “There’s no other museum on the planet that can tell that story in such depth and with such important works of art.”
27Trenton Doyle Hancock’s "Color Flash for Chat and Chew, Paris Texas in Seventy-Two," 2019–2020.
Hancock’s colorful tapestry, which hangs in the Kinder Building’s restaurant, is made from wool, silk, and cotton and revisits a backdrop he created for a Ballet Austin production more than a decade ago.
Hancock’s colorful tapestry, which hangs in the Kinder Building’s restaurant, is made from wool, silk, and cotton and revisits a backdrop he created for a Ballet Austin production more than a decade ago.
28Installation view of Jason Salavon’s "Little Infinity," 2020, with Alberto Giacometti’s Grande "Large standing woman I," 1960, in the foreground.
Salavon is known for using computer software to manipulate pre-existing media and data in order to create new works of art.
Salavon is known for using computer software to manipulate pre-existing media and data in order to create new works of art.
29The Latin American department galleries on the Kinder Building’s second floor.
Since 2000, the MFAH has been building a collection of South American art. “We can show the development of modernism in Brazil, in Uruguay, in Argentina, in Venezuela,” said Tinterow. “There’s no other museum on the planet that can tell that story in such depth and with such important works of art.”
Since 2000, the MFAH has been building a collection of South American art. “We can show the development of modernism in Brazil, in Uruguay, in Argentina, in Venezuela,” said Tinterow. “There’s no other museum on the planet that can tell that story in such depth and with such important works of art.”
30Alexander Calder’s "International Mobile," 1949, in the atrium of the MFAH’s Nancy and Rich Kinder Building.
Originally hung in Cullinan Hall, this mobile has actually occupied space in every one of the MFAH’s buildings at one point or another, but its new home in the Kinder offers viewers a different perspective with “three views on three floors,” said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow.
Originally hung in Cullinan Hall, this mobile has actually occupied space in every one of the MFAH’s buildings at one point or another, but its new home in the Kinder offers viewers a different perspective with “three views on three floors,” said MFAH Director Gary Tinterow.
31Installation view of Jason Salavon’s "Little Infinity," 2020, with Alberto Giacometti’s Grande "Large standing woman I," 1960, in the foreground.
Salavon is known for using computer software to manipulate pre-existing media and data in order to create new works of art.
Salavon is known for using computer software to manipulate pre-existing media and data in order to create new works of art.
32The kinetic works of Swiss sculptor Jean Tinguely in one of the Kinder Building’s street level galleries.
These galleries along Main Street will be illuminated at night, allowing passersby to see the works of art inside.
These galleries along Main Street will be illuminated at night, allowing passersby to see the works of art inside.

If you go out in public, remember to follow social distancing guidelines (keeping at least six feet between you and anyone else), wash hands often and thoroughly, and wear that face mask.

The art world’s eyes are on the Bayou City this week as the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston gears up for the opening of the brand-new Nancy and Rich Kinder Building, the final piece in its decade-long expansion project, this weekend. 

And after getting a sneak peek on Monday, we can see why. From the exterior translucent tubular pillars that will light up at night, to its cloud-inspired roof and inner gallery ceilings, to the bronze sculptural pool placed at its Main Street doors, the trapezoidal-shaped building that now houses the MFAH’s extensive permanent modern and contemporary art collections looks like a piece of art itself.

“It’s been eight years, almost nine years, creating this work,” MFAH Director Gary Tinterow said during a Monday video press preview of the space, “and we’re so pleased to see that the works that we’ve been acquiring in the anticipation of a facility fit so beautifully here.” 

This three-story building (four, if you count the underground art environment tunnels that connect to new gallery to the rest of the MFAH’s 14-acre Sarofim Campus), designed by famed New York-based architect Steven Holl (a believer that the site of any project should be the basis for the style it inspires, and currently best known for his 2019  expansion of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.). The Kinder boasts more than 100,000 square feet of exhibition space, increasing the MFAH’s room for showcasing art by a whopping 75 percent.

Yet Holl’s ingenious design, which contrasts with the neoclassical style of the MFAH’s oldest building, 1924’s Caroline Wiess Law Building, in a look-how-far-we’ve-come kind of way, manages to pack all of that gallery space in without making the Kinder feel crowded or claustrophobic—a real feat, if we say so. Plus, there’s the massive underground parking lot, a 215-seat theater, seven gardens, six reflecting pools along the building’s perimeter, and even a restaurant that opens onto Isamu Noguchi’s Cullen Sculpture Garden.

Of course, a space as magnificent as this deserves the very best pieces. And the MFAH delivers on that front. An array of treasures, including works by Picasso, Matisse, Pollock, O’Keefe, and so many other artistic greats, are displayed throughout the Kinder (named for the Houston couple who, along with Susan and Fayez Sarofim, kicked in $150 million for the project) alongside eight new site-specific commissioned works.

But we’re just getting started here. After all, the building in total contains 237,000 square feet for the museum to work with. Opening into an airy and bright atrium, the Kinder’s ground floor features a “black box” area devoted to immersive installations, while on the second floor, visitors will find departmental galleries dedicated to specific collections, including photography and Latin American modernist art. Meanwhile, the third floor will host rotating, thematic exhibitions. When the gallery opens this Saturday, visitors will see exhibitions devoted to color study, socio-political issues, and even humor.

“We’ve tried to reflect a global vision, which reflects the global status of Houston as an international capital and as a port city, which for more than a century now, has welcomed people from all over the world,” Tinterow explained. 

The pièce de résistance in the museum’s ambitious $450 million expansion and endowment campaign—currently the largest cultural construction project in North America, we simply must note—the Kinder Building has been in the works since 2012, when the museum launched a competition to find its perfect architect. With Holl, the MFAH has found a perfect fit, because while the initial idea was to just put up a new building, it was Holl who suggested the addition of a public plaza, rebuilding the Glassell School of Art (which was completed in 2018) and an expansion of the sculpture garden.

And the end result? Well, let’s just say Houston owes a lot to everyone involved for making this incredible new space happen, and we’re tipping our hats toward Holl in particular. The Kinder is a remarkable contribution to the Bayou City, and we’re looking forward to seeing many shows there in the weeks, months, years, and decades to come. 

Kinder Building opens to the public on November 21. 5500 Main St. 713-639-7300. More info at mfah.org. The MFAH is offering free admission (timed reservations and masks required) to all three of its Sarofim Campus galleries during opening weekend and to the Kinder Building thru November 25.




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Emma Schkloven
Emma Schkloven
After leaving her hometown of Baltimore, Emma spent five years covering arts & culture in the mountains of Virginia before joining Houstonia in January 2020. During her tenure in the commonwealth, she walked with ghosts through the state's oldest municipal cemetery, became BFFs with one of the writers behind the Despicable Me franchise, and borderline stalked an Elvis Tribute Artist — but in her defense, she won multiple awards for that story, and he was crowned the world's best ETA. Her work has been picked up by The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and The Associated Press. When Emma's not chasing down a story, taking in a musical, or watching a superhero TV show, she's spending time with her giant, sweet potato fry-stealing cat, Boh (named after Charm City icon Natty Boh), whose raison d'etre is to be a real-life Garfield.