A massive cliff of green-tinted glass runs alongside a railway track, resembling a mint-colored glacier welcoming incoming trains. The glass shimmers oddly in the light, with a surface that shifts between matte and glossy, encasing offices and atriums in a shifting crystalline shell. There’s a reason it doesn’t look like a typical office building—and it’s not just due to Swiss precision.
Finished in 2000, the facade of the Peter Merian Haus in Basel is the largest and perhaps least recognized work of Donald Judd, one of the 20th century’s most influential minimalist artists. If you’ve ever admired a polished aluminum box in a museum or come across a mysterious stack of colored acrylic rectangles jutting from a wall, they were likely his creations. Yet few people know that Judd’s extensive body of work included building-sized projects—or that, before his untimely death in 1994 at age 65, he was establishing an office focused on architecture.
He made a mistake by using cement mortar on the perimeter wall, and a section of it recently crumbled.
Nearly 6,000 miles west of Basel’s glass giant, in the small desert town of Marfa, Texas, Judd’s architecture office has been opened to the public after a seven-year, $3.3 million restoration led by Houston architect Troy Schaum. Housed in an unassuming brick grocery store from the early 1900s on the main street, it offers a captivating glimpse into the artist’s transition to larger-scale work and the challenges that came with it. It shows his struggle to move from a pristine world of pure forms, free from practical concerns, into the real-world demands of building codes, clients, and weatherproofing. As he said, “Design has to work. Art does not.”
Architects have long admired the rigor and clarity in Judd’s stark sculptures, wishing they could replicate his clean surfaces in their own designs. His pieces, crafted by skilled fabricators, are made with millimeter precision and stripped of unnecessary details, highlighting the natural qualities of industrial materials like steel, aluminum, plywood, or plexiglass.
In contrast, Judd had little patience for most architects. He criticized their misuse of materials, their superficial imitations, and dismissed their work as “derivative of art.” However, when he tried to design buildings himself, he discovered that achieving pure form and his signature perfection wasn’t so straightforward. Architects might take comfort in knowing that even the master of minimalism wasn’t flawless when it came to practical details like gutters.
The architecture office is the latest addition to the array of Judd sites in Marfa available for pre-booked tours. These include numerous studios, installed artworks, and his family home, where visitors can experience Judd’s creative environment exactly as he left it. He moved to Marfa in 1971 to escape the New York art scene, drawn by its sparse population. With property cheap and abundant, he began acquiring empty hangars, banks, and stores to display his work, amassing 22 sites by his death—along with millions in debt.
“Once Don started, he was doomed,” says his son, Flavin Judd, artistic director of the Judd Foundation, which is led by his sister, Rainer. “It’s like being a heroin addict. You have to keep buying the next one and the next one.”
Judd often grew frustrated with how museums handled and displayed his art, believing that the only
Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Donald Judds architectural work focusing on the challenges he faced written in a clear and natural tone
Beginner General Questions
Who was Donald Judd
Donald Judd was a hugely influential American artist best known as a leading figure in the Minimalist art movement of the 1960s and 70s
What is Minimalism in art
Its an art style that uses simple geometric forms industrial materials and a focus on the object itself and the space it occupies often without any hidden meaning or emotion
I heard Judd had problems with buildings What was that about
In the 1970s Judd began buying old buildings in Marfa Texas to permanently install his art and create a new kind of art foundation These buildings were often in bad shape leading to constant repairs like fixing leaky roofs and crumbling walls which cost a huge amount of money
Why did he choose old rundown buildings in a small Texas town
He wanted vast open spaces where his art could be seen in a permanent controlled environment separate from the commercial art world Marfa was remote and affordable allowing him to acquire large properties
What are Judd Foundations
The Judd Foundation is the nonprofit organization he established to preserve his homes studios and the art installations in Marfa and New York It continues to maintain the properties and offer public tours
Advanced Detailed Questions
How did Judds architectural work relate to his art
He didnt see a separation For Judd the architecture was part of the art The spaces the light and the buildings structure were all elements that worked together with his specific objects to create a complete experience
What were the biggest financial challenges he faced
The initial purchase of multiple properties followed by the endless and expensive restoration of neglected structures created massive debts He used the sales of his artwork to fund these projects which was a constant financial strain
Can you give a specific example of a building he transformed
The main complex in Marfa which includes two former army hangars and a cavalry fort is a prime example He spent years and a fortune reinforcing structures installing massive windows and creating pristine galleries within these raw industrial shells
