Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Your Guide
Bill Madden, ASLA
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The long history of the Museum of Fine Arts reflects the influence of many designers from around the world. These influences permeate and extend into the gardens of the MFA.

The Japanese Garden, which combines more than 70 species of Japanese and American plants, is considered to be an extension of the museum's Asian collection. The narrow pathway through the garden offers a calm, curated experience.

The Italian Garden, in contrast, is a grassy interior courtyard  that allows visitors to relax and reflect on the collection within.

Professor Kinsaku Nakane laid out the Japanese garden with Halvorson Design Partnership, while Arthur Shurcliff created the Italian Garden Court. In the 90s, landscape architecture firm Pressley Associates renovated aspects of these spaces. Then, in 2010, landscape architects at Gustafson Guthrie Nichol and architects at Foster + Partners began work on an expansion of the museum.

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