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The Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum and Library
Saarinen’s Cranbrook Academy of Art Museum and Library (1938-1942) is the symbolic center of Cranbrook. The building sits at the intersection of the two main axes that define the campus. The first axis extends East-West from the original house of George Booth to the new natatorium by Williams and Tsien. The second axis extends North-South from Nichols Gate through a series of stepped Triton Pools, to the Orpheus Fountain (Carl Milles, 1938). The Library and Museum are linked by a propylea and share a single foundation. The building is a two story concrete structure with an exterior of orange-yellow Mankato Limestone (quarried in Southern Minnesota) and mottled yellowish-brown brick.
The library is a two-story, rectangular building located immediately West of the propylea. The north façade faces the Orpheus Fountain with gardens and the formal approach. The south façade faces the Triton Pool and terraces with the statue of Europa and the Bull. To the West, the building connects to the Painting Studios and the rear of the Saarinen-designed faculty houses, which include the Milles and Saarinen Houses. The entrance to the Library is through a geometrically patterned bronze door in the East façade of the library building, under the propylea.
The library houses a moderately sized specialized collection of books (over 6,000 volumes), folios, periodicals, and media. Saarinen designed all the shelving and furniture for the space, which are still in use. Traditionally, all of the library’s collection has been housed in one space, 76’ x 37’. Saarinen designed the room to function as both a repository for the collection, and an exhibition space for George Booth’s important collection of folios. To present the folios, Saarinen designed a special sixty-foot long cabinet. Saarinen also intended the room to function as a grand reading room, with tall slit-like windows line the north wall of the space which provide nearly all of the day lighting for the library.
In the past decade the library has expanded into the lower floor of the building, which originally housed classroom space and the media lab. The periodical room occupies 600 square feet of the lower floor, while the slide room occupies another 200 SF. A conference room, large enough to seat twenty, fronts the south side of the building, and can be accessed from the academy quadrangle beyond; this room is the only air-conditioned space in the library complex. The lower floor also provides the only restrooms, which are not ADA compliant.
The museum is a two-story T-shaped building located immediately East of the propylea. The upper floor houses the main exhibition gallery. The interior finishes are rich but subdued. Floors are Roman travertine marble, walls are cloth-covered plywood, and ceilings are painted plaster. Saarinen designed a special artificial illumination ceiling system, revolutionary at the time, based on a grid of fluorescent lights with reflecting coffers above. Cases and blocks were made portable to give complete flexibility to curators in rearranging exhibits. The lower floor is divided between galleries, bookshop, administration, and storage facilities. The 200 seat De Salle Auditorium was excavated by Robert Swanson (grandson of Saarinen) below the lower floor. The east façade faces a parking lot with a loading dock for 18 wheeler trucks. From this entrance artworks may be taken to a small conservation workshop, art storage, or to the galleries (with an elevator). On the upper floor of the east façade is a “punch out” brick panel designed by Saarinen in anticipation of expansion requirements. In 2001, an annex designed by Rafael Moneo was built as an extension to the south wing of the museum. The building houses new artist studios for metalsmithing, ceramics, and fiber.
The Cranbrook Campus was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989. Its preservation must be carried out in accordance to The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties (see Bibliography).