When the Rockefeller Wing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art opened in 1982, it was a place of quiet contemplation, exhibiting objects from the venerable institution’s Africa, Ancient Americas and Oceania collections. Made of wood and other natural fibers, they could only withstand about fifty lux of light, so each piece floated in its own private pool of luminescence in the dimly lit gallery.
“That’s been the classic way of lighting Africa and Oceania materials, which are often made of wood and are light-sensitive. It’s such a cliché that they’re always seen as the dark continent. And when you go into these galleries, they look dark, like a Hollywood version of what those cultures are about,” architect Kulapat Yantrasast of L.A.’s WHY Architecture tells Observer. He’s the man responsible for the $70 million redo of the new Met wing, which opened in spring to universal acclaim.
“So, what we tried to do is create a sense of uplifting space. When you walk into the room, it feels uplifting. The ceiling, though it’s lower, feels higher, like a cathedral, because we eliminate the lights and everything else. So, the lighting is a very big part of what we changed.”
That change involved replacing the south-facing glass wall, plagued with condensation and leaks, with a new glass system—a five-layer honeycomb design with UV and energy filters that protect the art while providing more light. “I felt strongly that the park needed to be part of the picture because most of these artworks were made to be in natural light, outdoors,” observes Yantrasast. “So, it makes sense for it to have that connection to the park. Most of the wells in the wing are in a north-south orientation, so it doesn’t block the view.”
A highlight of the renovated gallery is a Ceremonial House Ceiling by Kwoma artists in Papua New Guinea, commissioned for the wing on its opening 43 years ago. Painted sago palm leaf stems form panels illustrating a map of the cosmos, clan histories and mythical knowledge. Traditionally, the Community House is a place where village leaders (always men) gather to discuss issues facing their people. In the past, viewers were unable to stand under the flat roof. But by angling it steeper and placing benches under it, Yantrasast has made it so visitors can lie down and admire the ceiling, or enjoy events and musical gatherings beneath it.
WHY Architecture is celebrating 20 years of mainly designing art spaces: David Kordansky Gallery in L.A., the FriezeLA tent, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures galleries, the American Museum of Natural History’s Northwest Coast Hall and Christie’s Beverly Hills showroom. “I never thought I would be doing museums for a living, as a specialty. Most architects would prefer new construction rather than renovation. I think it’s almost the same thing,” he says.
Projects designed from the ground up include the Grand Rapids Art Museum, Kentucky’s Speed Art Museum and the Studio Art Hall at Pomona College, as well as a house he built for himself in the Venice area of L.A. In limbo is his Tchaikovsky Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre in Perm, Russia, which broke ground several years ago but was put on hold after the invasion of Ukraine. “Because we started construction, hopefully when everything goes back to friendly terms, they can do it without us,” he says. “But I want them to finish it, because I think culture means a lot over there.”
Born in Bangkok, Yantrasast studied at Chulalongkorn University and, later, University of Tokyo. Upon graduation, he went to work as an associate for Pritzker Award-winner Tadao Ando from 1996 to 2003. He founded WHY Architecture in 2003 with former partner Yo-Ichiro Hakomori.
“My grandparents in Thailand were immigrants from China,” he says. “So, I grew up hearing these stories about why they had to leave—war, prejudice, conflicts. You try to make your life in a different place, you do everything you can. It’s not the best, but you make do. And everything can be wiped away with a sense of hatred, which I feel is pretty unfair if you believe in the American Dream.”
When Yantrasast looks at his staff, helpers and friends, he sees fear in their faces. “That is not the right mode for anyone to be in,” he sighs. “It’s like the country has a fur ball and we have to choke it out and be a better cat.”
Next up for him is the Louvre, a former palace and the most hallowed art institution in the world, for which he’s designing a space for the newly created department containing Late Roman, Byzantine and Early Christian artwork adjacent to the Islamic wing. Despite confronting a bureaucracy rife with tradition-bound thinking, he’s happy to find his museum counterparts to be open-minded.
“They want something different,” he notes with optimism in his voice. “What we’re trying to do is create a view from across Late Roman, Byzantine, Islam, Early Christian, so we understand that the world at that time was not as divided as we think it was. When you look at artifacts and motifs, even their belief systems, you realize how close they were. Today, we kill each other over issues of identity. At that time, it was not an issue. So, we’re hoping for art to reflect that sense of similarity as well as difference. It’s heartbreaking to see the world as it is now. With art, we can really transcend the prejudices and clichés, us-and-them situations.”
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