The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, will open today (July 26) its expanded and renovated 20-acre campus. The $100-million project, designed by James Carpenter Design Associates of New York and Efrat-Kowalsky Architects of Tel Aviv, includes a complete reconfiguration of the museum's three collection wings and a reinstallation of its enormous collections. Two-hundred-thousand sq. ft. of space has been re-done, and an additional 80,000 sq. ft. of new construction has been added. The Israel Museum originally held a 500,000-sq.-ft. architectural footprint.

The three renovated wings each feature a main theme: archaeology, the fine arts, and Jewish art and life. All galleries have been expanded and reinstalled, while the encyclopedic collection wings were reconfigured. Specifically, a three-story gallery has been built for centralized access to all museum facilities; The glass building has a terracotta, louvered shade enclosure and contrasts visually with the Museum's original stone buildings.

The re-designed museum hosts four, new orientation pavilions and aims to integrate its architecture with the surrounding, hillside landscape. The new design also hosts the Ruth Young Wing for Art Education, offering a variety of programs and activities, and the Billy Rose Art Garden, a large sculpture garden designed by Isamu Noguchi.

Distinctive to the design are two, custom-made  installations by artists Olafur Eliasson and Anish Kapoor, which celebrate the architecture and landscape of the museum campus. Olafur Eliasson created “Whenever the Rainbow Appears,” an installation of 360 individual paintings channeling the progression of colors in the light spectrum. It measures 7.5 ft. by 43.8 ft. The highest point on the museum campus, the outdoor Crown Plaza, hosts Anish Kapoor’s “Turning the World Upside Down.” The 16.4-ft.-tall, hourglass-shaped sculpture reflects the duality of Jerusalem, as its stainless steel surface mirrors both the sky and the surrounding landscape.

“Forty-five years after the Israel Museum first opened its beautiful hilltop campus, we have completed an expansion and renewal project that will allow us to serve our public as never before,” says James S. Snyder, Anne and Jerome Fisher director of the Israel Museum, in a statement. “The most ambitious undertaking in our history, this project has yielded a truly transformational change across our campus. We look forward to welcoming our visitors to the Museum’s stunning new public spaces and galleries, which will facilitate a richer and more enjoyable experience of our unparalleled collections and of our powerful Jerusalem hilltop setting.”

The Israel Museum has operated since 1965. Its original campus was designed by Alfred Mansfeld and Dora Gad as a modernist interpretation of the Mediterranean hilltop villages of the region.