The American Museum of Natural History decided on Studio Gang Architects’ design for the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. The New York City museum’s new building will have both scientific facilities and public exhibition space.
Jeanne Gang designed the Central Exhibition Hall to connect directly to the center of the museum through a spatial gallery. Along the route will be laboratories, visualization theaters, imaging facilities, and classrooms, along with museum exhibitions. The hall’s exterior will be covered in glass and stone.
The hall will hold areas where visitors can engage with high-tech tools, such as gene mapping, 3D imaging, and big data assimilation and visualization, all to learn about the current state of scientific research.
Also in the plans are a museum library, an insect hall, an interpretive wall, several floors displaying the museum’s collections, and the Invisible Worlds Theater. The theater will show, via new imaging technology, the strides being made in research of things big (the depths of the ocean, for instance) and small (the human microbial ecosystem).
The entire project, which comes out to 218,000 sf, is expected to cost $325 million, and half of that money has been raised. Construction is expected to begin in 2017, and the goal is to open in 2020.
Related Stories
Museums | Apr 23, 2015
Moshe Safdie unveils pentagonal scheme for National Medal of Honor Museum
The new museum near Charleston, S.C., will archive the history of the nation's highest military honorees.
Museums | Apr 22, 2015
Check out Ralph Johnson's stunning nature-inspired Shanghai museum
The newly opened Shanghai Natural History Museum, designed by Perkins+Will’s Global Design Director Ralph Johnson, mimics the shape of a nautilus shell, and features natural elements throughout.
Museums | Apr 16, 2015
SANAA and Snøhetta tie at first place for Budapest museum bid
The two firms submitted designs for the New National Gallery and Ludwig Museum, one of five planned museums to be constructed in a park just outside the urban center of Hungary’s capital.
Sponsored | Fire-Rated Products | Apr 14, 2015
Fire resistive curtain wall brings maximum light, views and safety to Aspen Art Museum
The curtain wall used for the Shigeru Ban-designed museum provides maximum daylight while protecting the art from fire
Museums | Apr 10, 2015
Henning Larsen Architects designs timber museum extension in Sweden
The new extension will complement Österund’s wooded surroundings
Building Team Awards | Apr 10, 2015
14 projects that push AEC teaming to the limits
From Lean construction to tri-party IPD to advanced BIM/VDC coordination, these 14 Building Teams demonstrate the power of collaboration in delivering award-winning buildings. These are the 2015 Building Team Award winners.
Building Team Awards | Apr 9, 2015
9/11 museum triumphs over controversy
The Building Team for this highly visible project had much more than design, engineering, and construction problems to deal with.
High-rise Construction | Mar 16, 2015
Mexican Museum tower caught in turmoil to break ground this summer in San Francisco
Millennium Partners said it will break ground on the 53-story residential and museum tower while the lawsuits go through the appeals process.
Museums | Mar 9, 2015
Architecture based on astronomy principles for new planetarium in Shanghai
The ancient Chinese civilization left some of the earliest records of humans studying the stars and skies. To exhibit this long history, a new planetarium and astronomy museum is planned for construction in Shanghai.
Museums | Mar 5, 2015
A giant, silver loop in Dubai will house the Museum of the Future
The Sheikh of Dubai hopes the $136 million museum will serve as an incubator for ideas and real designs—a global destination for inventors and entrepreneurs.