DS+R Scales Back at MoMA

John Hill

27. January 2016

Trimmed features include (L) the "Art Bay" entrance on West 53rd Street and (R) the public entrance to the sculpture garden on West 54th Street (Original renderings: DS+R)

The New York Times reports that "MoMA trims back some features of its planned renovation," being designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

Most disheartening of the news is that two of the projects most interesting and most public components – the "Art Bay" and entrance to the sculpture garden – are gone. With the "Art Bay," inspired by the courtyard at MoMA PS1 in Queens, "the proposal was deemed logistically problematic," per the article. In its place will be a new exhibition space that is open to the public but accessible from the lobby only, not the street.

Generally, plans for the $400 million renovation "open the museum’s lobbies and expand its galleries to address problems of circulation, overcrowding and an aura of coldness attributed to the [2004 Yoshio] Taniguchi renovation."

"A rendering of the planned layout" (Image: MoMA, via nytimes.com)

MoMA plans to stay open during this latest renovation, moving from east to west (a first phase, not pictured, was the demolition of the neighboring American Folk Art Museum designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects):

"Renovation plans for the Museum of Modern Art, showing the three phases that are expected to be completed in 2019 or 2020." (Image: MoMA, via nytimes.com)

The article ends with a quote from Martino Stierli, the museum’s chief curator of architecture and design (he was named curator in summer 2014 and assumed the post in March 2015, though an exhibition bearing his name has yet to see the light of day): "We’re really using this moment of renovation to explore other ways to see our collection — looking at how media can interact. We want to make use of this time to try new things."