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
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 115 Architecture Engineering Firms for 2023
Stantec, HDR, Page, HOK, and Arcadis North America top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture engineering (AE) firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
2023 Giants 400 Report: Ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms
A record 552 AEC firms submitted data for BD+C's 2023 Giants 400 Report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
Giants 400 | Aug 22, 2023
Top 175 Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, HKS, Perkins&Will, Corgan, and Perkins Eastman top the rankings of the nation's largest architecture firms for nonresidential building and multifamily housing work, as reported in Building Design+Construction's 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Standards | Jun 26, 2023
New Wi-Fi standard boosts indoor navigation, tracking accuracy in buildings
The recently released Wi-Fi standard, IEEE 802.11az enables more refined and accurate indoor location capabilities. As technology manufacturers incorporate the new standard in various devices, it will enable buildings, including malls, arenas, and stadiums, to provide new wayfinding and tracking features.
Museums | Jun 6, 2023
New wing of Natural History Museums of Los Angeles to be a destination and portal
NHM Commons, a new wing and community hub under construction at The Natural History Museums (NHM) of Los Angeles County, was designed to be both a destination and a portal into the building and to the surrounding grounds.
Architects | Jun 6, 2023
Taking storytelling to a new level in building design, with Gensler's Bob Weis and Andy Cohen
Bob Weis, formerly the head of Disney Imagineering, was recently hired by Gensler as its Global Immersive Experience Design Leader. He joins the firm's co-CEO Andy Cohen to discuss how Gensler will focus on storytelling to connect people to its projects.
Museums | Feb 22, 2023
David Chipperfield's 'subterranean' design wins competition for National Archaeological Museum in Athens
Berlin-based David Chipperfield Architects was selected as the winner of the design competition for the new National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The project will modernize and expand the original neoclassical museum designed by Ludwig Lange and Ernst Ziller (1866-1874) with new spaces that follow the existing topography of the site. It will add approximately 20,000 sm of space to the existing museum, as well as a rooftop park that will be open to the public.
Museums | Feb 17, 2023
First Americans Museum uses design metaphors of natural elements to honor native worldview
First Americans Museum (FAM) in Oklahoma City honors the 39 tribes in Oklahoma today, reflecting their history through design metaphors of nature’s elements of earth, wind, water, and fire. The design concept includes multiple circles suggested by arcs, reflecting the native tradition of a circular worldview that encompasses the cycle of life, the seasons, and the rotation of the earth.
Museums | Feb 12, 2023
A new museum will be a central piece within the University of Notre Dame's expanding arts district
Next November, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana is scheduled to open the first phase of Raclin Murphy Museum of Art, a 70,000-sf cultural facility that will eventually replace the campus’ venerable Snite Museum of Art and double the exhibit space available for Notre Dame’s 31,000-item art collection.
Giants 400 | Feb 9, 2023
New Giants 400 download: Get the complete at-a-glance 2022 Giants 400 rankings in Excel
See how your architecture, engineering, or construction firm stacks up against the nation's AEC Giants. For more than 45 years, the editors of Building Design+Construction have surveyed the largest AEC firms in the U.S./Canada to create the annual Giants 400 report. This year, a record 519 firms participated in the Giants 400 report. The final report includes 137 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.
