The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has chosen David Chipperfield Architects to design and oversee the gutting and rebuilding of its new south-west wing which houses modern and contemporary art. It’s thought completion will be timed to coincide with the museums’s 150th anniversary in 2020.
New York’s museums are competing with ever more ambitious plans and in so doing, forging New York City into one of the most exciting museum destinations in the world.
Elsewhere in the City, The Museum of Modern Art is controversially considering the demolition of one part of its real estate – the American Folk Museum – as part of a major renovation, The Frick is at the planning stages for an expansion and the Whitney is gearing up to open its new Renzo Piano-designed building in early April.
The Met's renovations will give the museum the room it needs to expand the display of its collection of modern art, which include the hitherto unhung collection of 79 Cubist masterworks which were gifted to the Museum by cosmetics tycoon Leonard Lauder in 2013.
The project is likely to involve the demolition of the Lila Acheson Wallace Wing - originally gifted to the Met by Lila Bell Wallace, the Readers' Digest tycoon, who made philanthropic contributions of US$60m in her lifetime.
In addition to more gallery space, the redevelopment could double the size of the Met's famous Roof Garden and create an entrance from Central Park.
The project could also create more on-site storage and and an overhaul of a number of the museum's space, including Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas gallery.
David Chipperfield Architects have a world class museum design pedigree, being responsible for the restoration of the Neues Museum in Berlin, the Saint Louis Art Museum, Museo Jumex in Mexico City and The Hepworth in Wakefield, UK. The practice is also working on the Nobel Center in Stockholm and a new building for the Kunsthaus Zurich in Switzerland.
During the building work, The Met will take refuge in the Whitney Museum of American Art’s former home, the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, which it has leased for eight years. Programming there will start in spring 2016.
