In 1997 a campus-wide survey found that BAM/PFA’s bold concrete structure did not meet current seismic standards. When it was determined that renovation costs would equal or exceed those of new construction, the BAM/PFA Board of Trustees proposed to build a new museum and gained University support. Temporarily relocating the PFA Theater in 2000 and a partial retrofit of the current museum in 2001 have enabled BAM/PFA to continue its acclaimed programming.

While challenging, these circumstances also give BAM/PFA a rare opportunity to expand its mission and offerings. All art, film, and digital programs and collections will be reunited in one new facility at Oxford and Center Streets that will stand as an architectural icon for the campus and downtown Berkeley. Larger, technologically sophisticated galleries and multiple theaters will be designed to accommodate evolving art forms. Students, faculty, and lifelong learners will find both formal and informal spaces for studying and discussing art and film.

Moving BAM/PFA to the center of Berkeley’s emerging arts district will ensure its position among the Bay Area’s must-see cultural destinations. One block west is downtown Berkeley’s BART station and several highly recognized arts organizations, including the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Jazzschool, and Aurora Theatre Company. The University sits to the immediate east. A hotel and conference center is being proposed for next door. Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto, home to numerous renowned restaurants, is one mile north. And nearly two million people pass over Center Street annually on their way to the campus. The new visual arts center will serve as a bridge and a meeting point for the campus, Berkeley, the Bay Area, and the world.

BAM/PFA began the architect selection process in 2005, and in September 2006 the internationally renowned Japanese architect Toyo Ito & Associates, Architects was selected as project architect from a group of five finalists. Find out more about Toyo Ito, as well as the architect selection process and finalists.

Currently BAM/PFA board and staff members are defining the building and program plans to guide the architect’s design. The groundbreaking and the new building's opening date will depend on BAM/PFA’s pace in raising capital support. The current building on Bancroft Way will be returned to the University when the new facility opens. Please visit these pages again soon for building project updates.

“The site is special and unique. It sits adjacent to the
University, which means that students as well as faculty
will be able to visit the space, pass by this place. And it
sits in downtown Berkeley. That means the Berkeley
public will be accessing the building on a daily basis.

“An interesting thing is that it’s not only a physical cross-section,
but also a psychological cross-section, giving us
the opportunity to effect a new type of communication.
People who come to see the museum will encounter
those who come to use the film archive; people who
come for all different purposes will interact there.

“So my challenge is, how to make this interaction much
more meaningful and profound with some sort of organic
mechanism realized in architecture.”

—Toyo Ito

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For information about supporting the BAM/PFA new building project, please contact Nancy Nelson in the Office of Institutional Advancement at (510) 642-6025 or
donate online now.