New scheme by OMA comes after months of criticism from architects and preservationists After months of criticism from the architecture community, as well as consultations with local preservationists, officials at Buffalo, New York?s Albright-Knox Art Gallery have backed off a previous redesign plan in favor of a new scheme that would save a 1962 building by Buffalo-born Pritzker Prize-winning architect Gordon Bunshaft.
According to a report in the Buffalo News, the new proposal, approved unanimously by the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, which oversees the gallery, features a new building, a ?translucent ziggurat? containing a public atrium and cafe.
Designed by OMA?s Shohei Shigematsu, who also created the previous renovation scheme, this newly approved plan also includes a transparent ?scenic bridge? connecting the new building to an existing neoclassical 1905 building on the museum?s campus, designed by E.B. Green.
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A sketch of the revised Albright-Knox Art Gallery update.

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Overhead view of the revised site plan.

In addition, the open-air courtyard created by the 1962 Bunshaft building would be covered to create an ?indoor town square.? Like the previous proposal, the new plan would also bury the current parking lot to create an open lawn on the west side of the Green building.
The Albright-Knox Art Gallery, a landmark in Buffalo, currently features Green?s classic design as as well as the Bunshaft-designed...