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Designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, the Museum reopened in midtown Manhattan on November 20, 2004, to coincide with MoMA's seventy-fifth anniversary. The 630,000-square-foot Museum is nearly twice the size of the former facility, offering dramatically expanded and redesigned spaces for exhibitions, public programming, educational outreach, and scholarly research.
Completed in November 2006, The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research Building marked the culmination of the Taniguchi project, providing significantly increased space for MoMA's wide-ranging educational and research activities.
The David and Peggy Rockefeller Building
A six-story gallery building—which includes many double-height
floors—houses the main collection and temporary exhibition
galleries. Architecturally distinctive galleries designed specifically
for the type and scale of works displayed provide an ideal showcase
for MoMA's unparalleled collection of modern and contemporary
art. Spacious galleries for contemporary art are located on the second
floor, demonstrating the Museum's commitment to the art of
our time, with smaller, more intimately scaled galleries for the
collection on the levels above. Expansive, skylit galleries for
temporary exhibitions are located on the top floor. These can be
subdivided to accommodate up to three concurrent exhibitions, each
accessible from a central platform suspended above the Museum's
Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium.
Lobby
In the lobby Taniguchi takes inspiration from the idea of the street,
and transfers it inside. This interior promenade offers expansive
views of both The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden and
the light-filled Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium, which soars 110 feet above street level.
The lobby also serves as the "information center" of the
Museum, with ticket counters; information about membership, current
exhibitions, and programs; and access to the Museum's theaters,
restaurant, stores, and Sculpture Garden.
The Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and
Research Building
Opposite The David and Peggy Rockefeller Building is MoMA's new eight-story Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education
and Research Building, which offers five times more space for educational
and research activities. The expanded Library and Archives occupy
the top floors of the building and include a light-filled reading
room and outdoor terrace. The building also features an entrance for
school groups, a 125-seat auditorium, an orientation center, workshop
space for teacher training programs, study centers, and a large lobby
with double-height views into the Sculpture Garden.
The Abby Aldrich
Rockefeller Sculpture Garden
Taniguchi reintroduces The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden
as the heart of the Museum by preserving Philip Johnson's original
1953 design. The architect's plan enlarges the garden and
re-establishes the southern terrace, which is now an elegant
outdoor patio for the Museum's new restaurant. Views of the
garden are now available from numerous vantage points throughout
the Museum.