Maridon Museum
The Maridon Museum, Butler, PA includes permanent and changing exhibition galleries, study storage, ground floor retail and an education center with multiple classrooms. The museum was founded by Mrs. Mary Phillips to house her collection of Asian art and Meissen porcelain in honor of her late husband, Don. The building is the museum’s first permanent home. Artworks date from prehistory to the present day, offering a unique perspective on the breadth of a personal collection and the development of Asian art and culture.
“A gleaming little gem of a museum, a gift to the street, its city, and its region”
- Patricia Lowry, architectural critic
The urban site, in a developing cultural district, was originally comprised to two separate buildings. A Victorian-style house was restored for administrative use, while the automobile showroom was gutted and expanded to house the galleries. Metal, glass and stone walls define the galleries and are a nod to the porcelain, ivory and jade collection. Between these structures a new glazed atrium and two-story education wing anchor the facility and create a single, integrated museum environment.
Project has been presented in exhibitions at Heinz Architectural Center National Academy of Design.
Publications include The Architectural Review Columns, Pittsburgh Post Gazette, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, City Paper.
Primary photography by Michael Moran.