The Memphis Brooks Museum Of Art designers have unveiled the design for a free-to-access rooftop park that will be featured at the riverfront location.
According to the museum, the pathway will offer views and vantage points previously unavailable. It also stretches “nearly a quarter of a mile,” and is meant for “more than observing.”
The space, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, will also feature connecting art, architecture, the Memphis skyline, as well as views of the Mississippi River.
“A continuous pathway connects discrete pavilions scattered across the roof, encouraging visitors to explore the museum’s unique location at the intersections of river, city, and art,” said the museum in a statement.
Memphis Brooks Museum of Art executive director Zoe Kahr, said this space will “bring together every corner of our community.”
“It’s just one of the many ways we;re creating pathways into the museum and connecting with the downtown urban landscape,” said Kahr.
Museum board president, Carl Person, echoed these sentiments saying that the roof is designed to bring people together. “Nowhere else in Memphis can get you 360-degree views like this, and the roof is just one of the free civic spaces in the Memphis’ art museum,” said Person.
The rooftop will also feature paintings chosen by an international landscape architecture firm, OLIN. The paintings will feature “regional, native, and robust plants,” and “a mixture of scales, colors, and textures.”
This announcement comes shortly after it was announced that Friends for Our Riverfront filed a lawsuit against the museum and the city of Memphis. The museum broke ground on the museum facility in June 2023. According to the museum, the $180 million project is expected to open to the public in late 2025.
In the lawsuit, Friends for Our Riverfront said that the museum’s move from Overton Park to the riverfront location is the city of Memphis’ “most recent violation.”
“What seemingly began as a consultant’s recommendation for a relatively small ‘cultural amenity’ on the river bluff at Union and Front Street has ballooned into a massive building project that covers an entire block, leaves no space for a greenway, and violates an easement that provides free access to all Memphians,” said the organization.
A Chancery Court hearing on the matter is scheduled for September 20th.