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Back in 2016, the New Museum announced its intention to expand its footprint by taking over the address adjacent to its current location at 235 Bowery. In 2022, construction at 231 Bowery finally kicked off and, last week, the cultural institution revealed that it will temporarily close its original location through early 2025 in an effort to more swiftly complete an overall expansion that will add seven stories and 60,000-square-feet of space to the destination, basically doubling its current area.
Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) is leading the expansion, which will also create a home for the museum's new cultural incubator, NEW INC, plus artist residency studios and programming areas.
According to an official press release, the second, third and fourth floors of the current building will be connected to the new space, which will also feature a new public plaza at the intersection of the Bowery and Prince Street "that will host art installations, performances, and gatherings."
"The OMA design will improve vertical circulation for visitors with the addition of an atrium stairway, which will offer views of the surrounding neighborhood and the opportunity for innovative art installations," explains the document.
Also on deck: a brand-new, eighty-seat restaurant, an expanded lobby and a larger bookstore.
Clearly, there's a lot going on.
As made evident in the renderings of the project, the facade of 231 Bowery will complement what's currently standing next door, specifically built from laminated glass with metal mesh.
The venture has been a long time coming.
In 2008, less than a year after it debuted, the museum bought the building at 231 Bowery, using it for storage. At the time, the New York Times reported that the structure had "once housed a restaurant supply company but before that was raw studio space for seminal New York artists."
It took years for the institution to raise millions of dollars and, in 2019, OMA released the expansion renderings that have been circulating once more last week, following the museum's announcement regarding its temporary closure.
As a mere look through social media comments makes clear, not everyone is excited about the project, with many New Yorkers openly complaining about the novel structure's look.
"The new addition may have interesting spaces inside, but the form is such an arrogant and insensitive kick in the teeth to the wry and subtle design of the existing museum," one user commented on Instagram. "The new design should go back to the drawing board."
But because this is New York, not everyone is in agreement. Some others have, in fact, taken to social media to express their delight when it comes to the new design.
"A great addition to the city scape," someone commented on Instagram.
While dealing with an expected range of opinions regarding its plans, the New Museum is also organizing a multi-day art, design and technology festival with NEW INC. this June while many of its exhibitions are prepping for tours around the world this upcoming summer.