Construction is progressing on the New Museum‘s seven-story expansion at 231 Bowery in the Bowery section of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Designed by Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu of OMA and Cooper Robertson & Partners, the 174-foot-tall annex is rising directly to the south of the SANAA-designed main building, which was originally completed in 2007, and will almost double the institution’s footprint to 115,277 square feet. The 60,000-square-foot addition will connect laterally connect to the current museum and add three gallery floors, an 80-seat restaurant, a larger bookstore, and office space for staff, among other spaces. The property is located at the intersection of Bowery and Spring Street.
A great deal of work has unfolded since our last update in September 2022, when demolition was just beginning on the former low-rise occupant of the property behind scaffolding and black netting. In the nearly two years since then, the structure was fully razed and the new steel-framed superstructure has begun to take shape. The angular walls will begin assembly in the coming months once the inner framework is fully built.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Renderings show the addition with a sleek, angular volume that contrasts with the existing building’s form of stacked boxes. The façade will be composed of laminated glass and metal mesh, and will incorporate several triangular cutouts in the sloped upper wall that are shown appointed with terraces.
New Museum at 231-235 Bowery. Rendering via OMA Instagram
The below circulation diagram details the connection points between the expansion and the existing building of the New Museum. A portion of the original structure’s southern wall will need to be removed to accommodate the intersections. Ceiling heights in the new three-story gallery spaces will also align with SANAAS’s existing structure.
New Museum at 231-235 Bowery, Rendering via OMA Instagram.
Additional programming in the annex will include outdoor terraces, 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, with two dedicated to gallery access, and a new public plaza that will host art installations, performances, and gatherings.
The nearest subways from the property are the F train at the 2nd Avenue station to the north at 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 is temporarily closed and is expected to reopen with the new addition in early 2025.
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Muggsy and the Bowery Boys would deprove..
This isn’t going to age well.
Looks like The Whitney ran over to the Lower East Side and is playing Hide and Go Seek.
A Ferris wheel should not be near an ornate building, which looks modern and futuristic: Thanks to Michael Young.
Looks like some Jawas should come pouring out the bottom.
I like it.