This project is a modular art gallery model based on the Menil Collection building in Houston, made in 1987 by the great Renzo Piano . This is a real world scale but 'minimalist' version of it, about half the size and simplified.The iconic iron roof structure with cement leaves filtering the light is made as close to the real one as possible and gives the main source of natural light into the scenes, which are completed by a number of artificial spotlights to showcase artworks.

It contains an entire building on a rectangular plot, with the modeling of the exterior parts, the structure and the interior spaces. Its sections can be arranged and multiplied if necessary, following a very simple composition rule (being spaced by 11,80m on the length side, as shown in the last preview pictures).

The base file is made in sketchup 2022 with a lot of components that were fundamental to this model. It was entirely rendered in Enscape, including the animations on the linked video, with different lighting and scene settings that match different kinds of spaces and desired looks. All those presets are saved in the skp file.

A 3dsmax optimized version is now available with all textures coming from the same base files, the Vray renders are shown in the preview. The entire model with all exhibitions is pretty complex, so I also put separate galleries in independant files to better work on each space, ultimately you just have to merge them together since theyr are correctly placed.

Building composition

• At the end of both sides, a West Gallery and an East Gallery, mirrored components.
• An entrance gallery with openings on the North and South Façades.
• 2 Bonus Galleries connecting the end and the entrance, same component.All elements are 11,80m wide, 50m long, not counting the outside parcel.
• A total of 6 galleries of around 240m² each in the first floor
• The Second floor is modeled for it completes the building. It is reachable by stairs, but is empty.

Textures

• Structural elements, interior walls remains default white
• Wooden floor is composed of 8 different textures, with reservations made for an integrated ventilation system, to remain as true to the original as possible
• Materials are stand ins for texture based materials with your own paintings, those in the renders are just to give an idea of the result with certain pictures that are not in the package (Painting #1, Drawing #2, etc.)
• From the Enscape library : Exterior walls, small wood and metal elements
• People and Vegetations come from the Enscape library in the Sketchup native file
• HDRI for the skyboxes

Exhibitions Templates

• East Gallery : A sculpture and drawings exhibitions
• East Gallery End : Collages framed by Wong Wa
• Empty gallery : just 3 benches, spotlights showing the different IES effects used in the model on the wall
• West Gallery : paintings exhibition.
• South Wing : architecture exhibition about, you guessed it, the Menil Collection
• Lights are hung on the profiled ceiling leaves, that each have a small railing system, allowing the spotlights to slide pretty much anywhere in the room. Rotate tool and axis adjustements can be used to orient the spotlights anywhere necessary. IES lights from narrow spot to wide flood can be changed to adjust the wanted lighting effect.
• Small labels with a Photoshop File to rename the artwork
• Paper frames for the small drawings and collages are made from a sketchup dynamic component that I created, very easy to adapt to any dimensions of framed artwork.

NoteThe possibilities offered by the spaces of the Menil collection building are very numerous, and I attempted to give a few examples on how they could be arranged in 3D using basic composition and modeling tools, ultimately leading to VR use or animation renderings.

The model of the entire building without art scenography can be found in my other products. It is twice larger but without the exhibitions.

Considering this is a very large file and a fairly complex project, if you have any questions regarding it feel free to notify me here, I'll answer them the best I can.

An article describing the making of the 3D Menil Collection is posted here :https://xwarchitecture.com/menil-collection-3d-model/

Also, pratical architecture lessons from the making of this model here :https://xwarchitecture.com/lessons-from-the-menil-collection-model/