For decades, The Studio Museum in Harlem has nurtured up-and-coming artists of African descent and brought them to prominence. Museum director and chief curator Thelma Golden told The New York Times that the museum has “outgrown the space” it currently occupies.
“Our program and our audience require us to answer those demands,” she adds. Hence, the museum has commissioned British-Tanzanian architect David Adjaye to design its new home, slated to begin construction in 2017 for a 2019 completion.
The museum intends to file plans for the building’s conceptual design with the Public Design Commission of the City of New York on July 14.
A press release from The Studio Museum describes Adjaye’s design as “the first home designed expressly for [the museum’s] program.” The public-private initiative, supported by the city of New York, will build the museum, a five-story, 71,000-sf building, on Manhattan’s West 125th Street.
The new scheme takes cues from the brownstones, churches, and bustling sidewalk of Harlem. A public lobby not only will bring grandeur that the museum’s current building can’t offer, but it will also act as a “living room” for the Harlem community and its visitors, thanks to a light-filled core that soars four stories.
Adjaye was selected out of several other architects because of “his sensitivity to artists as well as to the neighborhood,” Golden told the New York Times.
“For generations, artists living and working in Harlem have had an enormous impact on the character and sensibilities of this country. And for the last 50 years The Studio Museum in Harlem has been a pillar for this community, studying, promoting, supporting, and contributing to the cultural fabric of this extraordinary neighborhood and amplifying voices of artists of African descent for an international audience,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement. “The City’s investment in the future of this organization signals our commitment to helping the Studio Museum grow, engaging a wide audience and maintaining New York’s position at the center of American spirit and identity."
Related Stories
Cultural Facilities | Apr 8, 2024
Multipurpose sports facility will be first completed building at Obama Presidential Center
When it opens in late 2025, the Home Court will be the first completed space on the Obama Presidential Center campus in Chicago. Located on the southwest corner of the 19.3-acre Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park, the Home Court will be the largest gathering space on the campus. Renderings recently have been released of the 45,000-sf multipurpose sports facility and events space designed by Moody Nolan.
Cultural Facilities | Mar 27, 2024
Kansas City’s new Sobela Ocean Aquarium home to nearly 8,000 animals in 34 habitats
Kansas City’s new Sobela Ocean Aquarium is a world-class facility home to nearly 8,000 animals in 34 habitats ranging from small tanks to a giant 400,000-gallon shark tank.
Museums | Mar 25, 2024
Chrysler Museum of Art’s newly expanded Perry Glass Studio will display the art of glassmaking
In Norfolk, Va., the Chrysler Museum of Art’s Perry Glass Studio, an educational facility for glassmaking, will open a new addition in May. That will be followed by a renovation of the existing building scheduled for completion in December.
Museums | Mar 11, 2024
Nebraska’s Joslyn Art Museum to reopen this summer with new Snøhetta-designed pavilion
In Omaha, Neb., the Joslyn Art Museum, which displays art from ancient times to the present, has announced it will reopen on September 10, following the completion of its new 42,000-sf Rhonda & Howard Hawks Pavilion. Designed in collaboration with Snøhetta and Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture, the Hawks Pavilion is part of a museum overhaul that will expand the gallery space by more than 40%.
Products and Materials | Feb 29, 2024
Top building products for February 2024
BD+C Editors break down February's top 15 building products, from custom-engineered glass bridges to washroom accessories.
Giants 400 | Feb 8, 2024
Top 40 Museum Construction Firms for 2023
Turner Construction, Clark Group, Bancroft Construction, STO Building Group, and Alberici-Flintco top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest museum and gallery general contractors and construction management (CM) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 8, 2024
Top 40 Museum Engineering Firms for 2023
Arup, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Alfa Tech Consulting Engineers, Kohler Ronan, and Thornton Tomasetti top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest museum and gallery engineering and engineering/architecture (EA) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Feb 8, 2024
Top 70 Museum Architecture Firms for 2023
SmithGroup, Gensler, Ayers Saint Gross, Quinn Evans, HGA, and Cooper Robertson head BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest museum and gallery architecture and architecture/engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Museums | Jan 30, 2024
Meier Partners' South Korean museum seeks to create a harmonious relationship between art and nature
For the design of the newly completed Sorol Art Museum in Gangneung, South Korea, Meier Partners drew from Korean Confucianism to achieve a simplicity of form, material, and composition and a harmonious relationship with nature. The museum is scheduled to open on February 14. It is the firm’s first completed project since restructuring as Meier Partners.
Sponsored | BD+C University Course | Jan 17, 2024
Waterproofing deep foundations for new construction
This continuing education course, by Walter P Moore's Amos Chan, P.E., BECxP, CxA+BE, covers design considerations for below-grade waterproofing for new construction, the types of below-grade systems available, and specific concerns associated with waterproofing deep foundations.
