OMA to Expand New Museum

In today's statement from the New Museum, it was asserted that the design by OMA - Office for Metropolitan Architecture "will complement and respect the integrity of the Museum’s flagship SANAA building as a singular, critically acclaimed work of architecture." One year after the SANAA building opened the New Museum purchased the neighboring site at 231 Bowery and has occasionally used the storefront space for exhibitions, including Cronocaos, a 2011 "exhibition about the increasingly urgent topic of preservation in architecture and urbanism by OMA / Rem Koolhaas."

As described by Massimiliano Gioni, Edlis Neeson Artistic Director, "OMA has had an ongoing relationship with the museum, having taken part multiple times in our IdeasCity festival, where Koolhaas was a keynote speaker in New York and in Arles, and as a co-curator with Shigematsu of Cronocaos ... Together, Shigematsu and Koolhaas have demonstrated a keen understanding of the institution, an exceptional ability to meet our specific program requirements, and a deep sensitivity to the existing museum building."

The expansion was first announced in May 2016 as a means of providing an additional 50,000 square feet for "galleries, improved public circulation, and flexible space for the institution’s continued exploration of new platforms and programs." According to Architectural Record, the shortlist for designing the expansion consisted of OMA, SANAA, Selldorf Architects, wHY, and SO-IL, whose partner Florian Idenburg worked on the original building in SANAA's New York office.

The OMA partners are quoted in the statement: "Having collaborated with Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa on a number of projects in Europe, it is a real honor to stand alongside their great work of architecture, one of my favorites in the city," said Rem Koolhaas. Shohei Shigematsu added, "As a Japanese architect, I am very happy to engage in a unique dialogue with SANAA and build alongside one of their seminal works."

The expansion project is scheduled to break ground in 2019. Stay tuned for details on the design as they become available.