Designing the New Magnes

For almost half a century, the Judah L. Magnes Museum devoted its efforts to welcoming visitors by offering a wide array of exhibitions and public programs on the history and the cultures of the Jews in the Global Diaspora and the American West in its beloved location situated in the Elmwood residential neighborhood of Berkeley.

The gift of the collection to the University of California, Berkeley and the establishment of The Magnes Collection of Jewish Art and Life, is enhanced by the development of a new facility, located in downton Berkeley, near the UC Berkeley Campus and public transportation.

The new building, designed by Peter Pfau of PfauLong Architecture (San Francisco), opened in January, 2012. The facility, with areas for displaying the permanent collection, for exhibitions and public programs, as well as collection study, seminar and meeting rooms, is designed around an innovative principle of open collection storage.