An Ultramodern Building Shows Signs of Age

AT FIRST, GALLERY OFFICALS BELIEVED...

the problem was localized, caused by the freezing of water lodged on the shaft's deteriorated asphalt lining. But tilted panels soon started cropping up on different parts of the building. To date, the displacement of some 400 of the East Building's 16,200 exterior panels—about 2.5% of the total—has been observed. That may seem a small amount. But because this is a public venue, and because "we can't model or predict the rate of failure," says Susan Wertheim, the gallery's deputy administrator for capital projects, National Gallery officials decided in 2008 to reinstall all of the panels. They plan on hiring a contractor to oversee the project next year.

Mellon money—the equivalent of about half a billion dollars today—built the National Gallery, both John Russell Pope's
1941 West Building and Mr. Pei's 1978 addition. But taxpayers will be footing the bill for the cladding reinstallation on the
latter. The project was completed in 2013 at an estimated cost of $85 million. A cordon sanitaire was discreetly established by means of wooden entrance pavilions, roped-off entrance steps, and temporary fencing around the building. But visitors couldn't identify the problem because newly-tilting panels were swiftly wedged back into place with leaden shims. Read more                         Click images below to enlarge.