Today, the New Museum reopens to the public with a new seven-story expansion in the Bowery section of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Designed by Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu of OMA along with Cooper Robertson & Partners, the 174-foot-tall annex is addressed as at 231 Bowery and stands directly south of the SANAA-designed main building, originally completed in 2007. The 60,000-square-foot addition laterally connects to the original structure and more than doubles the institution’s footprint to 115,277 square feet. The new building contains three gallery floors, an 80-seat restaurant, a larger bookstore, offices for staff, and more. The property is located at the intersection of Bowery and Prince Street.
Recent photographs from a few days ago show crews finishing the last exterior touches, including adding signage above the front doors, and clearing the sidewalks around the large public plaza space in front of the new wing. PG New York fabricated and installed four distinct corrugated metal panel types and ACM panels across the sleek exterior facade.
New Museum. Photo by Michael Young.
New Museum. Photo by Michael Young.
New Museum. Photo by Michael Young.
New Museum. Photo by Michael Young.
New Museum. Photo by Michael Young.
New Museum. Photo by Michael Young.
New Museum. Photo by Michael Young.
New Museum. Photo by Michael Young.
New Museum. Photo by Michael Young.
The below circulation diagram previews the layout of the new wing’s programming and the connection points with the original SANAA-designed structure. A portion of the new building’s southern elevation was removed to accommodate the overbuild. Ceiling heights in the new three-story gallery spaces will also align with the original New Museum structure.
New Museum at 235 Bowery, Rendering via OMA Instagram
Additional programming in the annex will include artist residency studios, an upper-level forum for education and public programs that will connect to the existing Sky Room, and a home for the museum’s new cultural incubator, NEW INC. The building will feature an expanded lobby with three new elevators, two of which are dedicated to gallery access, and a spacious public plaza capable of hosting art installations, outdoor performances, and communal gatherings.
A press preview was held on Wednesday morning and included notable attendees like Shohei Shigematsu who spoke to a group of photographers and editors.
The nearest subways from the New Museum include the F train at the 2nd Avenue station to the north along Houston Street, the 6 train to the west at the Spring Street station, and the J and Z trains at the Bowery station to the south.
The New Museum opens today at 11:00am. Time ticket entries must be reserved online on the museum’s main website. Hours of operation are from 11am to 6pm, and is closed on Mondays. Members do not need to book tickets in advance. Prices start at $25 for adults. Seniors and visitors with disabilities are $22 with complimentary tickets for care partners. Students are $19, while community partners & affiliates and youth (18 and under) are free.
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I really want to like this, but I don’t. It just seems to scream “look at me” without any real context or meaning.
I really want to like this, but I do not. It just seems to scream “look at me!” without any real context or meaning.
I guess it’s worth saying twice
Let’s face it anyone with money can open a tax free museum . lol who needs this?
Nice museum. Bad location.
Great location
Don’t believe this is a bad location- do all museums need to be uptown? And it certainly is contextual with original building-
I haven’t been in yet- but all reports are that it signicantly improves flow in the galleries
It’s a nice counterpoint to the original part, but it doesn’t compete with it.
I wonder what the initial reaction was to FLW’s Guggenheim Museum when plans were revealed in the 50’s..
It was received poorly and that’s understating the reception
That triangular open cut would have been better enclosed.
This poor building is suffering from an identity crisis–or the result of an architectural committee.
I had to look at the first photo TWICE, was a bit difficult to see as it BLENDED in with the neighboring low-rises so well?!
Hideous.
John Canaday’s NYT review on opening day: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. open to the public as of this afternoon, is a war be- tween architecture and painting in which both come out badly maimed.
Wright wanted the place to be painted barn red on the outside. There was a great outcry over that.
The ‘red’ was meant to represent ‘creation’, but Wright was dealing with some powerful people who saw red..
the Bowery…they say such things & they do such things…I’ll never go back there again