Since 1939, when The Museum of Modern Art was first able to commission a building of its own, the goal of the institution has been not only to provide functional space, but to express its "understanding of modern art in concrete form." At this critical juncture, the role of architecture is seen as fundamental as the Museum reorients its focus from the accomplishments of this century to its goals for the next.
Nearly forty years ago, in 1959, the Museum opened a special exhibition titled Toward the "New" Museum of Modern Art in an effort to raise funds for its fourth Expansion. This would eventually include the renovation of the existing lobby, the addition of the east wing and garden wing, and the enlargement of The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden. The exhibition consisted of a sampling of some of the Museum's greatest artworks, hung in a densely packed installation that dramatized the need for greater space in which to display and care for the growing collection. The installation also underscored how space constraints affected the Museum's primary purpose, which, according to its founding director Alfred H. Barr, Jr., was "to help people enjoy, understand, and use the visual arts of our time."
As we now approach not only a new decade but a new century, the Museum faces unique challenges in presenting the arts of our time. The Museum must meet these challenges while remaining attuned to dual considerations: the need for additional space for the growing collection, as well as the quality of that space. Twice in the past the Museum relied on Trustees to design its buildings: Philip L. Goodwin and Philip Johnson. Goodwin (with Edward Durell Stone) designed the first building, and Johnson designed all but one of its subsequent additions. For the current Expansion, which includes the site of the Dorset hotel, the Museum invited ten architects from all over the world to participate in a charette, a problem-solving design exercise. The goal of the charette, as described in the brief distributed to the architects, was to produce a variety of proposals for discussion. "The essence of the design exercise will be the exploration of basic urbanistic and conceptual strategies for the redevelopment of the entire Museum."
In keeping with the conceptual nature of the exercise, the architects were asked to use a sketchbook or similar format to convey their ideas. Recognizing the diversity of contemporary practice, however, the architects were given considerable latitude in their submissions, provided that they could fit them into an 11-by-17-inch box given to each participant. The physical issues suggested by the Museum for consideration were the organization of public and private spaces, the existing zoning restrictions, and an outlined architectural program that included street-level uses, below-ground uses, and adjacencies. In addition, there were four specific elements of the original 1939 building that the architects were asked to retain: the large film theater (Titus 1), the open stairway connecting the second-and third-floor painting and sculpture galleries, the Goodwin and Stone facade, and the sculpture garden.
