Harvard hints at museum plans in artful manner

Back in 1999, when Harvard proposed building a pair of new art museums on the Charles River, the Cambridge neighbors were less than enthusiastic. One resident reacted by putting a sign on his home reading "Stop Harvard Museums."

Then in 2006, the university announced plans to build an art museum in Allston. But neighbors complained about its size and the amount of space accessible to the public.

This time around, Harvard is being careful. No glitzy press conferences or snazzy videos showing virtual tours - typical when museums announce building plans. Instead, Harvard Art Museum leaders have quietly held open houses and attended community meetings to make sure Cambridge residents approve of their latest multiyear project: reshaping the Quincy Street quarters that currently house the Fogg Art Museum and Busch-Reisinger Museum.

The plan is the focus of an exhibition that opens at the Fogg on Sunday, "Renzo Piano's Art Museum for Harvard." The show will offer a peek at the architect's sketches for the new museum complex, which call for knocking down the existing Busch-Reisinger and renovating the Fogg. All three of Harvard's museums - the Fogg, Busch-Reisinger, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum - will ultimately be housed within one complex. (The Sackler is now across the street on Broadway in a building that will be repurposed.)

When the exhibit closes on June 30, so will the Fogg - until about 2013. The Harvard Art Museum's sole public presence will be a revolving display of works at the Sackler.

"We want to give people an idea of what's happening on the site," said Harvard Art Museum director Tom Lentz. "Because about six weeks later, we close this building."

In a recent interview, Lentz said he wasn't yet ready to reveal much information about the project. He said that he could not offer a cost estimate and that it was too soon to know the exact square footage of the future museum complex. But he did confirm that Harvard has taken a deliberate approach in unveiling the project's design in the wake of negative responses to previous plans.

"We have a complex political landscape to navigate through," said Lentz. "In some ways, there's the price of doing business at Harvard."

Lentz also showed off some drawings that will be on display in the exhibition. They depict a structure whose roofline slopes upward behind the Fogg's Quincy Street facade. The Prescott Street side of the complex, which houses the Busch-Reisinger, has Piano's distinctively transparent look, with much of the first floor made of glass. But that may change, Lentz says.

Piano's schematic designs block out rough spaces for the project but do not detail the final look of the complex. For example, it is still unclear what material will be used on the exterior walls of the new Busch-Reisinger, according to Lentz. It is likely the ground floor of glass shown in Piano's drawing will be scaled back so more walls can be used for hanging art.

"At this point, we're not quite clear what the building's going to look like," said Lentz. "It's being designed from the inside out. All we know is what's most important to us - how the building functions."

The exterior facade of the Fogg won't change. It can't, because the building is a landmark, said Lentz. The Busch-Reisinger, built in 1991, will be ripped down. So will a series of other structures - the Fine Arts Library and Naumberg Wing - added to the complex in the years after the Fogg opened in 1927. The new frontage will be farther back from Prescott Street than the current building, allowing for a more welcoming entrance, Lentz said. The museum also plans to extend a ramp that Le Corbusier designed to swing from the neighboring Carpenter Center to the new Prescott Street entrance.

The inside of the museums will also change dramatically. Every system - electrical, plumbing, air conditioning, and heating - will be upgraded. Study centers will be stacked on the top sections of the building, offering students and other visitors space to closely examine artworks. The central courtyard of the Fogg will remain.

Harvard's strategy for handling relations with residents on this project makes sense when considered in the context of its failed plan to build two museums along the Charles River. Some Cambridge neighbors objected to the plan, and Harvard eventually dropped it. A plan to build another museum in Allston largely for modern and contemporary art is currently on hold.

"The museum is in a community, so I think we want to make sure they like what's going to be done with the museum and they have a chance to have some input," said Chris Gordon, chief operating officer of Harvard's Allston Development Group, which is overseeing the university's expansion into Allston and has been working with Harvard Art Museum on its project there.

Harvard is trying to make sure it shares information about the Quincy Street project with residents early, allowing them plenty of time to voice objections. Last month more than 600 neighbors were invited to a presentation and discussion at the Fogg, and presentations have been made to the Cambridge Historical Commission and Planning Board. On Saturday and Sunday, the museum will host an open house to show off the Piano design. The museum has sent out 30,000 cards inviting neighbors.

"They've done a very very good job of informing the neighbors as to what is going on, and what the timeline is," said Joan Pickett, a member of the Mid-Cambridge Neighborhood Association. "Their outreach and their information have been very strong."

Pickett said she considers the project "non-controversial."

"They're keeping it within the scope of the neighborhood buildings, in terms of heights," she said. "They're not proposing anything controversial, as I think they were the last time. They're not proposing anything that really seems at this point to impinge on the character of the neighborhood. I haven't heard anything from any of the abutters that they're concerned, and that is usually a good sign."

Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com. For more on the arts, visit boston.com/ae/theater_arts/exhibitionist.