Opened in 1972 in Fort Worth, the Kimbell Art Museum was designed by Louis Kahn and is widely recognized as one of the most important buildings of its time. It was built to house the collection of Kay and Velma Kimbell, whose foundation asked for "a museum of the first class."
The galleries sit under a row of long concrete vaults, each shaped as a cycloid, a gentle curve that kept the ceilings low and the rooms wide. Each vault spans about 100 feet. Daylight enters through a slot along the top of every vault and strikes a curved reflector, which spreads it across the polished concrete ceiling, giving the galleries the silvery light for which the museum is famous. Kahn said the forms recalled the Roman vaults he admired.
A second building by Renzo Piano opened on the west lawn in 2013.
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