Originally constructed for the 1939 World’s Fair, the resilient structure of New York’s Queens Museum of Art has been undergoing its fourth and most ambitious renovation since April 2011. This $68 million renovation, designed by Grimshaw Architects, will double the institution’s size, expanding the museum to a total of 105,000 square feet upon its completion in October 2013.
This expansive addition features a suite of new galleries, artist studios, flexible public and special event spaces, education classrooms, a café, back-of-house facilities, and visitor amenities, along with a new entrance, a generous skylit atrium, and an expanded outdoor space on the Flushing Meadows Corona Park side of the building. In addition, the west façade, facing the Grand Central Parkway, has been redesigned with a new entrance and drop-off plaza that features a 200 x 27-foot glass wall that will announce the museum to the 244,000 motorists passing by every day.
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Mark Husser, Managing Partner at Grimshaw, states, "One of the great assets of the New York City Building, and the reason the building has survived and been adapted for so many different uses over the years, is its intrinsic structural logic and robustness. It is inherently flexible, and its long span roof will make it one of the largest art spaces in the city. It has good bones, hence, our design is to capitalize and amplify those qualities while making strategic interventions to create flexible contemporary art galleries, introduce natural light, and improve flow and circulation."
Architects
Location
New York Ave, Flushing Meadows Corona Park Queens, NY 11368Supported By
Office of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Office of Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, New York State, the New York City Council, and private donations.Project Year
2013Photographs
Courtesy of Grimshaw and the Queens Museum of ArtArchitects
.jpg?1362378776 "Queens Museum of Art Expansion / Grimshaw Architects")
