The Museum As Art: Have We Forgotten About the Art Inside?

As more and more architects gain celebrity status, the buildings they design are becoming decidedly larger than life, and the design of the exterior shell is beginning to overshadow whatever is supposed to be going on inside the walls. In Bellevue, Washington, a museum hailed as an architectural breakthrough closed its doors this past fall, and part of the reason was said to be that the interior was simply ill-suited to house art collections. The disconnect between form and function in Bellevue is being viewed with alarm throughout the industry, and many observers are rethinking the role of the architect in such projects.