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Studio Museum in Harlem will open new building in late 2025

2024-10-10T14:02:00-04:00

The Studio Museum in Harlem announced it will reopen in the fall of 2025 at the conclusion of a seven-year and $300 million expansion project designed by Adjaye Associates.

The new building is set to be inaugurated with the first major career retrospective of sculptor Tom Lloyd, whose solo exhibition was notably the first shown at the museum’s founding loft space on 125th Street when it opened in 1968.

The institution will thereafter regain its rightful place in the upper echelon of New York City’s cultural economy, offering visitors a vastly improved experience defined by a collage-like approach to spatial configuration and topped by a roof terrace designed by the landscape firm Studio Zewde.

Image: © Albert Vecerka/Esto

The project is 82.000 square feet and features a public 'reverse stoop' bleacher-style seating amenity, a once novel feature that has recently been labeled a trope for critics. The museum had previously cut ties with Adjaye, who earned the commission for its design...

David Adjaye will design new bespoke Studio Museum in Harlem

2015-07-06T13:44:00-04:00

Since opening in 1968, the Studio Museum in Harlem has had to make do with difficult homes. Originally operating out of a rented loft, the museum moved into a roomier early 20th century commercial space, renovated by J. Max Bond, Jr., in 1982. But despite further renovations, the building's age and design were limiting the Museum's scope and programming. Now, the Studio Museum will have its very own building designed by David Adjaye, built specifically for its needs, replacing its current building on the same site.

Adjaye's design will significantly expand the museum's facilities, including 50% more space for both the galleries and the artist-in-residence program, as well as 60% more public indoor space. As quoted in The New York Times, Adjaye spoke of trying to merge the city and neighborhood feel with the museum's presence in Harlem: “Between the residential and the civic, we learned the lessons of public realms and tried to bring those two together.”

The design features a "reverse ...