The opportunity to renovate one of New York City’s most important cultural buildings, Marcel Breuer’s Brutalist icon at 945 Madison Avenue, has been granted to a partnership that includes Herzog & de Meuron and PBDW Architects after Sotheby’s named the firm to the project on Monday.
H&dM's co-founder Jacques Herzog says the project will be carried out with much the same precision as the firm’s previous renovation of the Park Avenue Armory not far away in their shared Upper East Side neighborhood. Existing spaces will be adapted to meet the current business and exhibition needs, while Breuer’s "original vision" of the 58-year-old design is recuperated both within and without for both the public and private clients.
"The Breuer Building is such an amazing architectural icon of postwar modernism which we—just like all architects—have always admired. Since our early work in the 1970’s, we have always placed great importance on working with existing buildings, not only from a sustainable perspective but also as a conscious engagement with structures from another era that need to be prepared for the future – catering to different users and programs. This engagement becomes more and more relevant for any existing structure anywhere in the world, but even more so for cultural landmarks,” he said in a statement prepared by the auction house.
More details are said to be coming next year before the building, which Sotheby's purchased for a rumored $100 million in June of last year, re-opens to collectors in the fall.
The building has changed hands—from the Whitney Museum to The Met to the Frick Collection—on and off for more than a decade now. The latter's multiyear Selldorf Architects-led renovation/enhancement likewise will be completed nearby in April of 2025.
6 Comments
H&dM, please don't screw it up.
Psst, both H&dM and PBDW are hiring for positions in NYC. You could be potentially working on this project.
Herzog & de Meuron seeking Design Technologies BIM Manager
PBDW Architects seeking Junior Architect with REVIT experience
PBDW Architects seeking Intermediate Architect
I wonder how Sotheby's is going to inhabit an opaque box? Especially if they can't modify the exterior [not that they should]? Maybe carve a light well into the center?
That's one of my favorite buildings in NYC -- it's too bad it couldn't survive as a museum
That bridge entry is just remarkable!
Probably just as a gallery, https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/sothebys-to-move-into-marcel-breuers-brutalist-building
The functions of an art auction house versus museum aren't too divergent, so much of the interiors could conceivably be preserved. But it's just like the incompetent NYC Landmarks to not legally protect the interior. So it's possible things could go south. Imagine some Sothebys exec saying "We loved Breuer's architecture, but all the natural stone and concrete just felt too heavy. We had our famous architects re-imagine it all in drywall and perforated metal in a way that honors Breuer."
a bit surprised by the worriers. Herzog and DeMeuron are not particularly famous for doing bad buildings. Expensive, yes, but bad?
I expect awesomeness. Great news, in any case. The building is amazing and should be used properly again.
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