The New Museum in New York City has unveiled the design for a second building, designed by OMA / Shohei Shigematsu in collaboration with Cooper Robertson. The appointment represents OMA’s first public building in New York City. The structure will complement the integrity of the adjoining SANAA-designed flagship building, while also asserting its own identity.
The seven-story, 60,000-square-foot building will include three floors of galleries, along with additional space for the museum’s many community and education programs, a permanent home for NEW INC, and increased public amenities.
The OMA scheme will replace an existing building acquired almost twelve years ago to provide additional program space. In an effort to improve the museum’s efficiency, both spatially and financially, the museum commissioned the OMA building to enhance vertical circulation with the addition of an atrium stair, offering views of the surrounding neighborhood. The scheme will also feature an expanded lobby and bookstore, an upper-level forum connecting to the existing Skyroom, and a new 80-seat restaurant.
Our new building establishes its own distinct identity yet it is highly connected to the existing museum. The new New Museum will be a synergistic pair working spatially and programmatically in tandem, offering a repertoire of spaces to match the institution’s curatorial ambitions and diverse programs. A counterpart to the existing tower’s verticality and solidity, the new building will expand the galleries horizontally and reveal the vertical circulation through a transparent facade. We wanted to create a highly public face—starting from the exterior plaza and atrium stair to terraced multipurpose rooms at the top—that will be a conduit of art and activities that provide openness to engage Bowery and the city beyond.
-Shohei Shigematsu, Partner, OMA
Using a laminated glass with metal mesh, the façade will provide a supple, unified exterior alongside the SANAA building, with a material that recalls and complements the SANAA façade, while also allowing for a higher degree of transparency. Hence, the OMA addition will communicate the activities of the museum outwards, while creating a more inviting presence to invite the public inwards.
News via: OMA
Lead Design Architect: OMA New York
Partner-in-Charge: Shohei Shigematsu
Partner-in-Collaboration: Rem Koolhaas
Associate: Jake Forster
Project Architect: Jackie Woon Bae, Ninoslav Krgovic
Team: Richard Nelson-Chow, Clement Mathieu, Kaegan Walsh, Jan Casimir, Carly Dean, Vincent Parlatore, Tamara Jamil
Executive Architect: Cooper Robertson
Project and Cost Management: Gardner and Theobald
Pre-Design Services: F.J. Sciame Construction, Co., Inc
Structural Engineer: ARUP
Mechanical Systems: ARUP
Façade: Front
Geotechnical: Langan
Civil Engineer: Philip Habib & Associates
Graphics: 2x4
AD Classics: New Museum / SANAA
This article was originally published on July 22, 2016. To read the stories behind other celebrated architecture projects, visit our AD Classics section. The New Museum is the product of a daring vision to establish a radical, politicized center for contemporary art in New York City.
