In planning the expansion of its arrival buildings, the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park had certain attributes at the top of its list. For one, the architecture needed to be discreet—not an “object” building. Yet the new welcome center and ancillary structures should have a strong presence for the growing number of visitors to the park’s 158 landscaped acres in the northwest part of Grand Rapids.
The public botanical garden, art museum, and outdoor sculpture park was founded in 1995 by Frederik Meijer, whose success with a shopping chain enabled him to both collect sculpture and pursue philanthropy. The horticultural emphasis owed much to Meijer’s wife, Lena, and the initial leadership of the West Michigan Horticultural Society. Beginning with the five-story-high tropical-plant conservatory, the institution added an eight-acre Japanese garden, various parks for children, a nature trail, and miles of luxuriant glades where about 200 sculptures (by Auguste Rodin, Henry Moore, Alexander Calder, Jonathan Borofsky, and others) were carefully ensconced.
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