Overview
- Chinati has announced a multi‑year restoration of the two Artillery Sheds that house Donald Judd’s 100 untitled mill‑aluminium works and will move each aluminium box for the first time in more than 40 years so conservators can inspect and stabilize them.
- A multidisciplinary team led by Schaum Architects and including Alfred Lippincott, the Getty Conservation Institute, engineers, conservators and landscape designers will plan and carry out the work.
- The strategy rejects conventional mechanical climate control and instead uses passive air circulation through existing openings, full‑scale glass mock‑ups to be tested over a year, and minimal filtered fresh air to moderate temperature swings.
- Planned repairs cover roofs, gutters and façades, plus new energy‑efficient single‑pane glazing, improved drainage and rainwater harvesting and more accessible pathways to reduce water damage and visitor impact.
- The effort follows the sheds’ recent inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places and is meant to preserve Judd’s intended sensory and spatial experience while adapting the buildings to growing climate risks.