CALGARY, ALTA. – An iconic Calgary museum project is bringing in an internationally renowned designer to transform its terrace.
Artist Maya Lin will design the museum’s rooftop terrace at its new location at the JR Shaw Centre for Arts & Culture in downtown Calgary.
The 13,000-square-foot terrace will serve as a public amenity with western views of Stephen Avenue along with the surrounding structures of the Calgary Tower, TELUS Sky and The Bow. The terrace will include an all-season pavilion, event spaces, sculpture and gardens, along with a skylight and oculus to filter natural light into the museum, a release said.
“We are transforming a 50-year-old roof at the museum into a community-oriented place where you can come up out of downtown and find refuge and respite to celebrate the arts surrounded by Glenbow’s program and collections. We are so excited that Maya Lin is the visionary who will shape this experience for our visitors,” Glenbo president and CEO Nicholas Bell said in a statement.
Lin first rose to global prominence when she was selected at age 21 to design the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. and is currently designing a water garden for the Obama Presidential Center, scheduled to open in 2025. The Glenbow is her first Canadian project.
“This idea that we are recycling a building in the centre of downtown Calgary and making something new out of it while utilizing as much of the old building was a huge draw for me. If we can use an existing building in a better way, it is a lot more energy efficient, it is a lot more material efficient, and it sends a very different message about resource consumption and directly counters attitudes about a throwaway culture,” Lin said.
Beyond the terrace, design of the Glenbow at the JR Shaw Centre for Arts & Culture is led by DIALOG. The museum is scheduled to open in mid-2026.
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