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.

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 in 2015, in the wake of sexual misconduct allegations against the architect first reported by the Financial Times last July (Adjaye denies the claims). He had described its design previously as being evocative of the neighborhood’s character and a repository through which various kinds of community engagements can be initiated.