15 Oct 2019
MoMA's $450m Diller Scofidio + Renfro renovation is unveiled
BY Stu Robarts
After a five-year, $450m (€409m, £356m) renovation project split over two phases, New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) reopens next week with 102,000sq ft (9,500sq m) of new gallery and public space.
Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, working with Gensler, the renovation has seen the building's footprint increased to 708,000sq ft (66,000sq m), with gallery space increased by around a third to 166,000sq ft (15,000sq m).
There's a new space for performance, process and time-based art and a new, experimental Creativity Lab that will be programmed by MoMA's Education Department.
Existing galleries have been updated to be more flexible and technologically sophisticated.
The main lobby has been opened up to be brighter and provide a better connection between West 53rd and 54th Streets, with revamped entrances and a new glass façade on 53rd Street.
Indeed, access and circulation around the building has been improved in general, with more routes around the building and places to pause and reflect.
The shop has also been expanded and reshaped to sit across two levels.
The expansion came at the expense of Tod Williams and Billie Tsien's American Folk Art Museum, which was demolished to make space for the expanded building. In fact, MoMA now also stretches into part of Jean Nouvel's adjacent 53 West 53.
The first phase of the renovation was completed in 2017. The completed building MoMA reopens to the public on October 21st.
Close Window