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Throughout
its history, The Museum of Modern Art has used architecture as a
vehicle for self-renewal and regeneration. The recently completed
building project represents MoMA's most extensive redefinition since
its founding seventy-five years ago. The Museum combines new spaces
with MoMA's original architecture to dramatically enhance its dynamic
collection of modern and contemporary art.
MoMA conducted
an extensive worldwide search for an architect who would not simply
add on to the Museum's existing architecture, but would be able
to transform MoMA's various buildings and additions into a unified
whole. Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi won the commission with
a design that would, in his own words, "transform MoMA into a bold
new museum while maintaining its historical, cultural, and social
context."
The 630,000-square-foot
Museum has nearly twice the capacity of the former facility. The
new six-story David and Peggy Rockefeller Building houses
the main collection and temporary exhibition galleries. Taniguchi
worked closely with curators to refine his concept into a design
that would expertly accommodate the type and scale of works displayed.
Spacious galleries for contemporary art are located on the second
floor, with more intimately scaled galleries for the collection
on the levels above. Expansive, skylit galleries for temporary
exhibitions are located on the top floor. MoMA's Film and Media
program resumes in the two refurbished Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters, located below
the lobby level.
In the
expanded Museum lobby, Taniguchi takes inspiration from the unique
vitality of the streets of midtown Manhattan. This bustling interior
promenade connects Fifty-third and Fifty-fourth Streets and offers
spectacular 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 Museum's "information center,"
with multiple ticket counters; information about membership, exhibitions,
and programs; and access to the Museum's theaters, restaurant, stores,
and garden.
Masterworks
of modern sculpture, seasonal plantings, and reflecting pools once
again welcome visitors to the beloved Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture
Garden, which Taniguchi identified as "perhaps the most distinctive
single element of the Museum today." The architect preserved Philip
Johnson's original 1953 design and re-established the garden's southern
terrace to create an elegant outdoor patio for The Modern,
the Museum's
new fine-dining restaurant.
The opening of the eight-story Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman
Education and Research Building in November 2006 marked the completion of the Museum's expansion project. Offering five
times more space for educational and research activities, the Cullman Building houses the expanded Library and Archives;the Edward John Noble Education Center, featuring state-of-the art classrooms; three theaters, including the 121-seat Celeste Bartos Theater; curatorial study centers for the departments of Architecture and Design, Painting and Sculpture, Film, and Media; an entrance for school groups; and a lobby with magnificent views of the Sculpture Garden.
With his
design for The Museum of Modern Art, Taniguchi has demonstrated
that architectural expression and the proper environment for looking
at art can be brilliantly intertwined. The result, in the architect's
own words, is "an ideal environment for art and people [created]
through the imaginative and disciplined use of light, materials,
and space."
For more information on
the new MoMA, visit the Frequently
Asked Questions page.
Foreign-language visitor
information about the new MoMA is available in French,
German,
Italian,
Japanese,
and Spanish
in PDF format (Adobe
Acrobat Reader required).
Pictured
above:
View of the new David and Peggy Rockefeller Gallery Building
from Fifty-fourth Street. Photo ©
2004 Timothy Hursley
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