New York’s Museum of Sex announces its expansion to Miami in spring 2023 with a 3000-square-meters museum designed by the international studio Snøhetta. The converted warehouse will feature three extensive exhibition galleries, retail space, and a bar to preserve, present, and celebrate the cultural significance of human sexuality in one of the most vibrant and diverse arts communities in the USA. The inaugural program will include work by Hajime Sorayama and Super Funland: Journey into the Erotic Carnival, the museum’s main immersive experience.
Fueled by Miami’s established position as a cultural epicenter, the Museum of Sex will offer locals and visitors a destination to evoke diversity and identity through the best contemporary design. Located in the Allapattah district, 10 minutes away from the Miami Design District, the area has historically enjoyed a strong sense of community and a polyethnic flavor. The sector is also home to public art installations and the Rubell Museum, one of North America's biggest private contemporary art collections.
The Miami location will mark the institution's most ambitious exhibition program undertaking yet: Hajime Sorayama: Desire Machines; the historical survey Modern Sex: 100 Years of Design and Decency; as well as a significantly scaled-up interpretation of Super Funland: Journey into the Erotic Carnival, the museum’s thrilling immersive experience. “The inaugural programming embodies the ambitions to be a thought-provoking forum around sex and sexuality, and to bring forth a unique, publicly loved and critically acclaimed cultural offering to Miami.” Said Daniel Gluck, Executive Director and Founder of the Museum of Sex.
Founded in 2002 and displaying more than 40 exhibitions, the Museum of Sex has shown how design plays a pivotal role in exhibition development and execution. World-renowned design firms such as Pentagram Design Inc., Casson Mann, and 2×4 have helped to transform the galleries and the historic building into an open discourse surrounding sexuality as well as striving to present to the public the best in current scholarship unhindered by self-censorship. The museum’s building in New York is in the “Tenderloin,” an entertainment and former red-light district notorious by the 19th century for its bordellos, dance halls, theaters, and saloons. Additional information and details about the Miami location and opening will be available in 2023.
Snøhetta's collaboration with the Museum of Sex is rooted in positivity and joy. As we have pursued creating spaces that bring people together, our team embraced the levity and fun that characterizes Museum of Sex, working to translate this perspective into a collection of interiors that embrace fun, laughter, and togetherness. - Anne-Rachel Schiffmann, Director and Senior Architect at Snøhetta
The international architecture practice has also unveiled the Design for Westchester Square Library in The Bronx and the French Natural History Museum Of Lille. The complex will undertake a significant architectural transformation for its 200th anniversary and will support the city's ambition to combine urban renewal with preserving its historic French architecture.