The tripartite façade of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts’ new Norman Foster-designed wing
In yesterday’s video of my hike around the perimeter of the old and new Boston Museum of Fine Arts, I left you hanging when things were starting to get interesting—at the emergence, around the east corner of the original building’s façade, of a view of the new Norman Foster-designed wing for the Art of the Americas.
Let’s now continue our journey and parse the architecture. We’ll end our tour with a view of the splendid-looking building that the museum has acquired for its NEXT expansion.. Purchased by the BMFA in 2007, this confection in brightest white (particularly brilliant on the glorious fall day when I visited)
opened in 1914 as the Forsyth Dental Infirmary. Last August, the museum leased it for 10 years to nearby Northeastern University, while it ponders how it will eventually use the building.
Museum spokesperson Amelia Kantrowitz told me that the BMFA is now “making enhancements to portions of the Beaux Arts-designed [Forsyth] building,” in preparation for its use by the university. (You’ll see it arrayed in scaffolding, at the end of this video.)