The Robert Olnick Pavilion at Magazzino Italian Art recently opened to the public on September 14, 2023. This new building offered architect Miguel Quismondo, Founder of MQ Architecture, an opportunity to reunite with his mentor, the world-renowned Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza. Archtober toured the Robert Olnick Pavilion as part of the 2023 festival, making the site the first Building of the Day tour outside of New York City. Download Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and culture app, to access the Archtober Guide and the Magazzino Italian Art Guide to learn about the design strategies used to build the Pavilion.

Inspiration from Arte Povera 

Magazzino, which means “warehouse” in Italian, was co-founded by Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu. The museum and research center opened its doors in 2017 in Cold Spring, New York. Its collections and exhibitions celebrate Arte Povera, an Italian art movement that embraces art outside the bounds of traditional practices and materials. The Robert Olnick Pavilion uses humble industrial materials like concrete to lay a backdrop that highlights the postwar and contemporary Italian art from the museum’s collections.  

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Connection to the Landscape 

The Pavilion is nestled into a small hill on Magazzino’s campus. The rectilinear design accommodates the lower vestibule entrance into the galleries, meeting the edge of the hill to provide an entrance to the café on the top floor. Strategically placed windows bring in angled light that travels around the rooms throughout the day. The lower level, which houses the Murano glass collections and a multi-purpose room, peeks out onto a sunny courtyard.  

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Gallery 2 

The focus of the building is surprisingly not the airy exhibition galleries, but Gallery 2, a cube-shaped room that is 30 feet by 30 feet by 30 feet. Square windows allow powerful streams of light to enter the interior, connecting the isotropic room to the outdoors. On the interior gallery wall, one square window allows visitors in the café to peer down into the gallery. The lofty gallery complements the height of the Pavilion, keeping the connection to the surrounding hillside and the other spaces within the building. 

The Robert Olnick Pavilion expanded Magazzino’s campus and brought in another 13,000 square feet of exhibition and program space. The Pavilion’s design aligns with the original building on Magazzino’s campus, yet the two buildings still boast their own unique character against the natural backdrop of the Cold Spring landscape. Visitors can engage with the Italian art collections while remaining connected to the environment, and even visit Sardinian donkeys.

Discover more about The Robert Olnick Pavilion, and Magazzino Italian Art, on the Bloomberg Connects app!