Shigeru Ban to Design New Aspen Art Museum Building

Shigeru Ban, whose prefab shed for Artek fetched just over $600,000 last month at Sotheby’s, is heading west. The Aspen Art Museum (AAM) has chosen Shigeru Ban Architects (SBA) to design a new 30,000 square-foot facility for the museum, which has operated since 1979 out of a converted hydroelectric plant (pictured at left and topping out at 7,000 square feet) and is now in expansion mode. SBA was the unanimous choice of a selection committee chaired by Frances Dittmer, the secretary of AAM’s Board of Trustees.