More space and better access for viewing the greatest collection of 20th-century art at MoMA –
Through the latest extension The Museum of Modern Art in New York has added 47,000 square feet of new exhibition spaces. Funded by the late David Rockefeller and four MoMA trustees, the extension cost $450 million. It’s the fourth significant change in the museum’s history, which opened in 1939. The first extension was designed by Philip Johnson in 1964, the second by Cesar Pelli in 1984 and the third by Yoshio Taniguchi in 2004.
The latest by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, in co-operation with Gensler, exemplifies sleek international style, high-tech engineering and minimalistic modernism. A new double-height entrance on 53rd Street has transformed the spatial experience of the museum, adding a sense of openness and transparency. The clear glass façade aims to bring art closer to people. New street level galleries are free for all, with no entrance fee, providing a public space with cultural and educational value. ”Inspired by Alfred Barr’s original vision to be an experimental museum in New York, the real value of this extension is not just more space, but space that allows us to rethink the experience the art in a Museum”, director Glenn D. Lowry pointed out.
The permanent collection has more modernist masterpieces than any other museum. Several of the MoMA trustees are influential collectors, who have donated works. Now the curatorial strategy aims to offer a wider perspective and showcase the complexity of global artistic production. The new spaces allow for juxtaposing different artistic movements and approaches, while also staging numerous works by women, African American artists and galleries specialising in Latin American and Chinese art.
The number of visitors at MoMA each year is over three million. The galleries need to accommodate a huge flow of people and also more room for larger art works. The latest expansion will make circulation around the museum easier, while also providing a wider view of one of the greatest collections of sculpture, painting, architecture, design, photography, media, performance and film together. The new presentations will illustrate links and connections between different types of artistic production. Housed over six floors, where some of the galleries will be medium-specific, the museum aims to broaden the ways in which art can be displayed, understood and discussed. The architectural concept encourages several alternative routes through the collections.