AFTER impassioned protests from prominent architects, preservationists and design critics, the Museum of Modern Art said on Thursday that it would reconsider its decision to demolish its next-door neighbor, the former home of the American Folk Art Museum, to make room for an expansion. — nytimes.com
In a board meeting on Thursday morning, the directors were told that a board committee had selected the design firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro to handle the expansion and to help determine whether to keep any of the existing structure.
18 Comments
Huzzah for now.
Diller Scofidio Renfro's office gets a blank check, so a firm Huzzah for them.
hmmm....
tell me more about this "firm Huzzah" of yours...
...so I guess they don't want blood on their hands. What about hiring TWBT for the expansion?
wowwww this is going to be serious
I believe that Tod Williams and Ricardo Scofidio are old friends, so this is a step in the right direction.
whatever.
they're just gonna stick a big balloon in it.
and some dry ice.
but the lighting will be exquisite.
From the article - "One person involved in the plans, who was not authorized to comment and therefore spoke on condition of anonymity, said that MoMA was still likely to arrive at the same conclusion.
“Everybody likes the building, but it’s hard to keep it — the floors don’t line up,” the person said. “If I showed you the plans, you would say, ‘I don’t know how to do it.’ “
So does this mean MOMA is essentially playing lip-service to the uproar and DSR will be told to essentially raze the FAM because the board can't visualize the floors not lining up?
DSR: do the right thing.
It is worth recalling what Arthur Drexler's attitude was towards the role of MOMA and how far we have moved away from it since:
A r t h u r D r e x l e r : As its name might suggest,
the Museum of Modern Art, through its Department
of Architecture and Design, is concerned
with the art of architecture. It recognizes—indeed
it insists—that architecture even more than the
other arts is bound up with ethics, social justice,
technology, politics, and finance, along with the
lofty desire to improve the human condition.
From: Candide Journal for Architectural Knowledge, No. 05 (02/2012), pp. 57-92, Kim Förster
Pretty sure that DSR can handle staggered floorplates.
Why don't they show art on the ramps connecting the staggered floor plates? It's not ideal but hasn't stopped people from going to the Guggenheim. Mamamia que facodomia though, this one will be interesting to see play out.
"...selected the design firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro to handle the expansion and to help determine whether to keep any of the existing structure."
Its not a matter of 'IF', but 'HOW'. I have a feeling DSR will be used as a scapegoat.
Yeah I agree with Iamus' read of the situation. They will try and get a notable firm to come in and say the TWBT building is unsalvagable, and then they will do their dirty work. There is a chance DSR will try and save the building, but actually despite their beginnings as rebellious conceptual artists, I find their architecture work to be mostly trendy and non-threatening*. I wouldn't be surprised to see something like the facade moved indoors as lobby "decoration" and the building destroyed, or some other gestural move*.
Anyways this isn't going to change peoples perception of MOMA's stance on preservation, but at least they are going about it in a more ethical/reasonable way than perhaps we as a community thought they might. That's something, at least.
*these are not compliments
There is room behind the museum... you could install very gradual ramps or something. Additionally, i'd like to see the facade brought out to the sidewalk to open up the building--not sure how to do that though... ha. Or replace with semi-transparent glazing in the same pattern and shape. Would be cool to see it glow.
I'm not gonna lie, while I find DS+R's selection to be predictable, I'm also not particularly optimistic they're going to do a great job with a project that requires such a conceptually strong idea.
Yes, they're very popular in New York after the HighLine, but when it comes right down to it, have they actually done a great building lately? Especially a museum? The Broad in LA already looks so dated, like "remember when we thought that Grasshoppery facades were the future of architecture?" Their Cultural Shed proposal is a clunky, awkward thing. But at the end of the day, they're a lot more like MoMA than they might want to let on - they're a pretty large, corporatey office that relies more on signature moves (peel the corner up! throw a ramp on it! green roof it!) than genuine innovation.
I agree with many of the other comments that Todd and Billie should at least have had a crack at it. Or, hand it to a real conceptual thinker - remember how wild OMA and HdM's proposals were for the last expansion competition? MoMA had the chance to be daring or sensitive, and instead they chose something frankly a bit boring.
But DSR's work at Lincoln Center is really good, so subtle but with enormous impact, really sensitive. I can see them figuring out how to work the FAM into whatever else will be built in a way that lets everyone win: FAM stays, MOMA gets to show they value architects, DSR are heroes.
Of course I can also see the Board holding DSR hostage, telling them they get no more work from anyone Board-related unless they say the building has to go. That's the cynical side of my brain.
In my opinion, any proposal to "save the facade" is a failure. Architecture isn't just facade. And it would be so disrespectful.
"save the facade, and drop the rest" defines the last 50 years of a huge amount of architectural conservation. not sure why it wouldn't be applied to a new building as well. hadn't thought of the blackmail angle donna. very cynical. can easily imagine it.
"save the facade, and drop the rest" defines the last 50 years of a huge amount of architectural conservation. - I wonder why?
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