{"id":252027,"date":"2025-10-26T05:00:15","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T05:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/252027\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T05:00:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T05:00:15","slug":"donald-judds-architecture-office-reopens-in-marfa-after-a-seven-year-restoration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/252027\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Judd\u2019s Architecture Office Reopens in Marfa After a Seven-Year Restoration\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the corner of Highland Avenue in Marfa, Texas, a two-story brick structure with a recessed fa\u00e7ade once known as the Glascock Building has silently witnessed the town\u2019s evolution for more than a century. Built in 1907 as a boarding house and grocery, it later became Donald Judd\u2019s Architecture Office<\/a> after the late polymath artist purchased it in 1990. Within those walls, he sketched, planned, and debated projects such as the Peter Merian Haus and Eichholteren in Switzerland that carried his practice from sculpture to architecture until his untimely death four years later.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In the years that followed, the brick facade degraded considerably and its street-facing windows were boarded up due to structural instability. This fall, after a meticulous seven-year restoration by Schaum Architects<\/a>, the building reopened as a vital anchor in both Marfa\u2019s civic fabric and the Judd Foundation\u2019s long-term mission to preserve its founder\u2019s legacy. It is one of eleven Judd-associated<\/a> buildings in Marfa listed on the National Register of Historic Places and marks the first major project under the Foundation\u2019s long-term plan for its Texas properties, following the model established by the 2013 restoration of his building at 101 Spring Street in SoHo, New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Man<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDonald Judd in Marfa, Texas. 1993.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: \u00a9 Laura Wilson. Courtesy Judd Foundation. <\/p>\n

Work began in 2018 and was nearing completion when disaster struck. In 2021, a fire consumed much of the building\u2019s central interior and roof, halting progress and forcing the team to rebuild from the remains. The renewed structure emerged with the same brick-by-brick craftsmanship Judd prized, now reinforced by discreet energy systems designed to endure the extremes of the high-desert climate. Passive cooling draws on Marfa\u2019s nightly temperature swings, recycled denim insulation tempers the desert heat, and a rooftop solar array offsets annual energy use. The $3.3 million effort drew together local builders and international specialists, from master carpenters in Marfa to masonry experts from Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Rainer Judd, president of the Judd Foundation, the restoration extends a project her father began when he first sandblasted the fa\u00e7ade more than three decades ago. \u201cAligned with his preservation ethos, we have continued this work of restoring the building\u2019s original details with respect for the intrinsic qualities of the historic architecture, and adapting the interior functions to operate efficiently,\u201d she tells Galerie. \u201cThis is done with minimum interruption to the integrity of the building and with prioritization of Don\u2019s ideas.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"architectural<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArchitecture Office, Judd Foundation, Marfa, Texas.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Matthew Millman \u00a9 Judd Foundation<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Empty<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArchitecture Office, Judd Foundation, Marfa, Texas.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Matthew Millman \u00a9 Judd Foundation<\/p>\n

The ground floor recreates Judd\u2019s original office. Blueprints, architectural models, and design prototypes are arrayed across his own clean-lined tables, fabricated in plywood and metal, their exacting geometries visible through street-level windows. On the second floor, known as the Architecture Apartment, paintings by John Chamberlain hang alongside Alvar Aalto armchairs and more Judd furniture exactly as he installed them. The restoration provides public program spaces for the Foundation and accommodations for visiting researchers. \u201cThe installation of Don\u2019s work and the spaces surrounding his work extends beyond the buildings we maintain today,\u201d Rainer says. \u201cThe Architecture Office subtly introduces the considerations that were the driving force for his architecture.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Its location, directly opposite the post office, underpins its role within Marfa\u2019s<\/a> fabric. \u201cAs Don said, it is a structure of its time, of the style of the American Southwest at the turn of the century, and as such, a part of Marfa\u2019s shared history,\u201d continues Rainer, who hopes visitors will see it as both an architectural installation and a civic landmark. \u201cThis is as important to the experience of the building\u2014just as much as Don\u2019s ideas concerning architecture, preservation, and restoration.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Minimalist<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSecond Floor, Architecture Office, Judd Foundation, Marfa, Texas.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Matthew Millman \u00a9 Judd Foundation. John Chamberlain Art \u00a9 Fairweather &
\nFairweather LTD \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Minimalist<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSecond Floor, Architecture Office, Judd Foundation, Marfa, Texas.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Matthew Millman \u00a9 Judd Foundation. John Chamberlain Art \u00a9 Fairweather &
\nFairweather LTD \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.<\/p>\n

For architect Troy Schaum, the project demanded discipline and patience. \u201cThere are many small functional items that we may have thought could be \u2018improved\u2019 in the apartment spaces on the second floor,\u201d he recalls. \u201cIn the end, we accommodated a straightforward design resolution in keeping with Judd\u2019s original occupation of the building.\u201d That ethos\u2014of waiting, observing, and intervening only when essential\u2014was echoed by his former partner, Rosalyne Shieh, now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: \u201cOne of [Judd\u2019s] principles for architecture was to first \u2018do nothing for a few days and think about it\u2019 before you act. The whole team really adopted this ethos. The buildings and landscapes have their own stories, and we work hard not to compromise them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Room<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSecond Floor, Architecture Office, Judd Foundation, Marfa, Texas.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Matthew Millman \u00a9 Judd Foundation. John Chamberlain Art \u00a9 Fairweather &
\nFairweather LTD \/ Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.<\/p>\n

That philosophy extended to the building\u2019s infrastructure, where the team sought subtle ways to make the century-old structure more responsive to its environment. Schaum\u2019s team studied weather patterns and future climate projections to inform decisions about glass, insulation, and ventilation without altering the building\u2019s character. \u201cThe building has taught us to consider a holistic understanding of place,\u201d he says. \u201cWe\u2019ve learned that strategically not doing something can be more demanding than designing something new. If we are successful, our hands as designers will leave little trace.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Architecture Office joins a constellation of Judd Foundation properties in Marfa, from the Block to Las Casas, all carefully preserved as part of the Foundation\u2019s mandate to safeguard Judd\u2019s permanently installed work. With its reopening, visitors can again step inside the rooms where Judd developed his ideas and lived among the furniture, art, and objects that defined his vision. \u201cI hope that people experiencing the space in person can discover their own interests\u2014of place, time, history, design, architecture\u2014and their meaning in their own lives and professions,\u201d Rainer muses. \u201cDon believed that meaning, just like space, is made.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"A<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArchitecture Office, Judd Foundation, Marfa, Texas.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Matthew Millman \u00a9 Judd Foundation.<\/p>\n

A version of this article first appeared in print in our 2025 Late Fall Issue under the headline \u201cOffice Return.\u201d\u00a0Subscribe to the magazine.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At the corner of Highland Avenue in Marfa, Texas, a two-story brick structure with a recessed fa\u00e7ade once…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252028,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[137149,228,226,227,229,91593,88,137150,91591,137151,1022],"class_list":{"0":"post-252027","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-architecture-office","9":"tag-arts","10":"tag-arts-and-design","11":"tag-artsanddesign","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-donald-judd","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-judd-foundation","16":"tag-marfa","17":"tag-schaum-architects","18":"tag-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}