Photo by Jon Silver

The 75,000-square-foot Museum of Glass, which sits on the Thea Foss Waterway, is Tacoma's newest cultural landmark and architect Arthur Erickson’s first major art museum in the United States.

Sheathed in concrete and translucent glass, the building abuts a tilted 90-foot cone wrapped in stainless steel. A series of tiered horizontal terraces ascend from an esplanade along the waterway, providing the museum with outdoor exhibition areas and panoramic views.

Photos by Wyn Bielaska

The museum houses 13,000 square feet of gallery space, a 180-seat theater, an experimental studio for educational programs, a hot-shop amphitheater and a museum store and café. The Chihuly Bridge of Glass is a 500-foot pedestrian bridge with three installations by renowned glass artist and Tacoma native Dale Chihuly. The steel-and-glass bridge spans from the museum rooftop to the core of the downtown cultural district.

The photos shown here include the Museum of Glass seen from across the Thea Foss Waterway (top right), an interior view of the 5,000-square-foot grand hall (middle right), and a rooftop view of the cone and an installation by Northwest artist Buster Simpson (bottom right).