Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Office of Building and Grounds.

Completed in 1924, the central architectural core of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston was the first major public building designed by the Boston architect William Ward Watkin (1886-1952). Watkin had come to Houston as an associate of the firm of Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson to supervise construction of early structures at the Rice Institute (now Rice University), where he became first chairman of the department of architecture in 1916. Watkin began work on his designs for the Museum building as early as 1920. The completed central core was ceremoniously opened on April12, 1924, though construction of Watkin's east and west wings continued until their dedication two years later, on April 12, 1926. Although Watkin's comprehensive master plan for the Museum was never built in its entirety, the existing portions display a sedate neoclassical style that was characteristic of American public architecture in the 1920s and invites comparison with contemporary museums erected in Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C.

By the early 1940s, the development of its collections and public service required the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to consider architectural expansion. In the spring of 1952, the donation of major funding by John H. and Camilla Davis Blaffer allowed the Museum to secure the services of prominent architect Kenneth Franzheim (1890-1959) to design the new addition. Franzheim's master plan for the Museum was presented to the director and trustees in 1952, but it departed radically from designs drafted earlier by the Museum's first architect, William Ward Watkin (1896-1952). Franzheim's master plan was never adopted but his Robert L. Blaffer Memorial Wing was completed in October 1953 as an extension of Watkin's earlier East Wing. The addition provided quarters for the Museum School as well as gallery space, decorated by Houstonian Higford Griffiths, which provided for the display of paintings from the Blaffer Collection.

The physical structure of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston consists of distinct architectural entities constructed between the 1920s and the 1970s and designed by architects as diverse as the American neoclassicist, William Ward Watkin (1886-1952), and the modernist and former Director of the Bauhaus, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969). The Museum buildings were developed and erected through the combined efforts of the Museum's local patrons, trustees, and administrative staff and eventually required the organization of an administrative entity within the Museum which would oversee the development and upkeep of its structures. The Office of Building and Grounds was formed in the early 1970s. The records of this office therefore contain historical materials which necessarily predate its founding as well as those which illustrate its current jurisdiction.

Dating from the 1920s to the 1950s, the structures forming the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston were expanded under the direction of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe during two building campaigns that spanned the late 1950s and early 1970s. Mies' earlier structure, Cullinan Hall (1958), provided a ground floor with clear-span exhibition space lit by continuous clerestory windows and proved a dynamic setting for installation of the Museum's growing collection of twentieth-century art. Construction of Cullinan Hall took place between 1956 and 1958 and included remodelling of the original Museum structures erected by William Ward Watkin in the 1920s. Mies' later addition, Brown Pavilion, provided office space as well as additional second-floor galleries overlooking the vast interior of Cullinan Hall. Brown Pavilion was constructed posthumously and completed in 1974, with accompanying renovations to Cullinan Hall and other existing structures.

Dating from the 1920s to the 1950s, the structures forming the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston were expanded under the direction of architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe during two building campaigns that spanned the late 1950s and early 1970s. Mies' earlier structure, Cullinan Hall (1958), provided a ground floor with clear-span exhibition space lit by continuous clerestory windows and proved a dynamic setting for installation of the Museum's growing collection of twentieth-century art. Construction of Cullinan Hall took place between 1956 and 1958 and included remodelling of the original Museum structures erected by William Ward Watkin in the 1920s. Mies' later addition, Brown Pavilion, provided office space as well as additional second-floor galleries overlooking the vast interior of Cullinan Hall. Brown Pavilion was constructed posthumously and completed in 1974, with accompanying renovations to Cullinan Hall and other existing structures.

Completed in 1924, the central architectural core of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston was the first major public building designed by the Boston architect William Ward Watkin (1886-1952). Watkin had come to Houston in 1910 as an associate of the firm of Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson to supervise construction of early structures at the Rice Institute (now Rice University), where he became first chairman of the department of architecture in 1916. Watkin began work on his designs for the Museum building as early as 1920. The completed central core was ceremoniously opened on April 12, 1924, though construction of Watkin's east and west wings continued until their dedication two years later, on April 12, 1926. Although Watkin's comprehensive master plan for the Museum was never built in its entirety, the existing portions display a sedate neoclassical style that was characteristic of American public architecture in the 1920s and invites comparison with contemporary museums erected in Cleveland, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Washington, D.C.