Zaha Hadid Architects’ Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University under construction

The opening of Zaha Hadid’s next high-profile project, the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum at Michigan State University, has again been delayed, with administrators setting the blame on the structure’s ill-fitting trapezoidal glass panes. As the Lansing State Journal reports, the manufacturing of the large pieces of glass that comprise the slanted facade was not sufficiently precise and the tectonics not entirely worked out. Each sheet of glass can exceed 1,000 lbs and with an error margin of as little as 2 millimeters, builders were forced to return the faulty glass to the contractor for re-cutting.

Construction delays are no strangers to Zaha’s projects, and having seen the incredibly shoddy cladding work done at the Guangzhou Opera House, it would not be the first (nor the third or fourth) time that the designs have clumsily made the transition from sleek renderings/paintings to reality.  The $40 million project has seen its fair share of setbacks, which originally forced MSU to postpone the museum dedication to this April. Given the latest mishap, the school has rescheduled the ceremony to next term, when it will open sometime in the fall. If you’re getting anxious, you can explore the building next month when the university launches the Virtual Broad Museum, a 3d environment that vividly renders the building’s interiors and which will feature plus feature interactive exhibitions.

by Samuel Medina

posted in Uncategorized

tagged construction, Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum, glass, Michigan State University, museum, zaha hadid

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