“Not only are the leaders of the Nelson-Atkins unveiling a $196 million project by a controversial architect, they’re doing it at a moment of reaction in the museum design world. Stung by criticism that high-concept museums such as Frank Gehry’s in Bilbao, Spain, or Daniel Libeskind’s new space in Denver are ill-serving the art they are meant to showcase, the museum world is thinking hard about the virtues of celebrity architecture. But as Nelson-Atkins curators rush to install art in the new space, it’s clear that they have received exactly what they hoped for when they chose Steven Holl over five other architects in a 1999 competition.”