Linda Pace’s dreams of red led to this Ruby City museum

The $16 million Linda Pace Foundation museum, known as Ruby City for its red exterior, is designed by world-renowned architect David Adjaye. Oversize windows will have views of adjacent CHRISpark, built in 2005, a 1-acre public green space named in honor of Pace’s son, who died in 1997, and of the city skyline. less The $16 million Linda Pace Foundation museum, known as Ruby City for its red exterior, is designed by world-renowned architect David Adjaye. Oversize windows will have views of adjacent CHRISpark, built in ... more Photo: Courtesy Linda Pace Foundation Photo: Courtesy Linda Pace Foundation Image 1 of / 89 Caption Close Linda Pace’s dreams of red led to this Ruby City museum 1 / 89 Back to Gallery

Linda Pace’s dream of Ruby City took a step closer to reality today when design plans and renderings for a long-anticipated South Side museum to house the late arts patron’s 800-work contemporary art collection were released.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Linda Pace Foundation board member Kathryn Kanjo. “Linda began thinking about a museum as early as 2000 and had a very clear vision of what the museum would be. It was the last great effort that she worked on, and now it’s coming to fruition.”

The two-story, $16 million structure will be integrated into the foundation campus on Camp and South Flores streets. It was designed by world-renowned British architect David Adjaye, who also designed the $500 million National Museum of African American History and Culture going up on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The museum’s name, Ruby City, is based on a dream that Linda Pace had, which she sketched and shared with Adjaye during a visit he made to San Antonio in 2007. Pace died of cancer later that year.

The exterior will be faced with crimson-hued panels of precast concrete with glass aggregate, giving it a sparkling effect.

Oversize windows will have views of adjacent CHRISpark, built in 2005, a 1-acre public green space named in honor of Pace’s son, who died in 1997, and of the city skyline.

Visitors will enter Ruby City from the west, facing San Pedro Creek. Terraced banks leading to the creek will feature a new outdoor sculpture garden.

Largely rectangular, the building will have a dramatic rooftop of sloping angles and skylights that rise to varying heights and echo cut-away spaces at the building’s base. Inside the lobby of the building, a grand staircase will lead up to a series of three gallery spaces with concrete floors and white walls and ceilings.

Totaling 14,000 square feet, Ruby City will feature 10,000 square feet of exhibition space, with the remaining spaces devoted to administrative offices and storage.

Groundbreaking is set for 2016, with a completion date in 2018. The museum will be paid for with foundation funds. Admission will be free.

“The museum will be exquisite for San Antonio in so many ways,” Kanjo said. “It will be a singular building, an important building by a very prominent architect, but it will be respectful of San Pedro Creek and integrated into the surrounding neighborhood. It won’t look as if it dropped from the sky.”

Foundation President Rick Moore called the museum “a beacon for San Antonio.”

“It’s a testament to the living legacy of Linda Pace’s vision and to San Antonio’s thriving contemporary art scene,” he said.

The foundation’s collection features more than 800 paintings, sculptures, installations and video works by international contemporary artists.

Recent acquisitions include works by Shahzia Sikander, Wangechi Mutu, Arturo Herrera, Dario Robleto and Chuck Ramirez.

“We will have the long-term installation of major works, but we’ll also develop a rhythm with changing shows or installations in certain sections of the museum to bring a sense of liveliness to the space,” Kanjo said.

Adjaye has said the vaulted, skylit gallery spaces were informed by the architecture of the San Antonio missions.

In a statement, he said: “When I visited San Antonio in 2007 and met with Linda, we sketched out ideas and together we envisioned a building that would resonate with her dream of the Ruby City. Like a city, the design offers an organic encounter with the foundation’s works, and my hope is that it will become a place where artists and the wider community can be inspired to realize their own dreams through a meaningful experience with contemporary art.”