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Yesterday, DS+R announced in their proposal for MoMA's redesign that the American Folk Art Museum would have to be demolished. Backlash from the #folkMoMA community quickly arose: architects and critics called the choice callous and unsustainable, outraged not only by the Folk Art Museum's... View full entry
[Diller] had great respect for the Folk Art Museum, calling it a “bespoke” design tailored to the needs of the museum. She went through several scenarios on how to integrate the museum in the expanded footprint. [...]
Adapting the Folk Art Museum building, however, would basically compromise the building’s interior beyond recognition. [...]
The architects would have had to destroy the Folk Art Museum building in order to save it.
— Architect Magazing
In what looks like the kiss of death for the #folkMoMA movement, Diller Scofidio + Renfro's design for MoMA's expansion will necessitate the destruction of the neighboring American Folk Art Museum, as proposed today in a MoMA press conference. The initial threat to the Folk Museum was made last... View full entry
Beth Mosenthal penned a thoughtful Op-Ed titled The Ego and the Architect. Therein, she briefly examined "the idea of ‘leadership’ in an architectural office". News Celebrating the fact that "the Museum of Modern Art blinked" Michael Kimmelman wrote an article... View full entry
News Robin Pogrebin reported that following wide-ranging protests, the Museum of Modern Art has selected the design firm Diller Scofidio & Renfro to re-examine it’s planned expansion including whether to keep any of the existing American Folk Art Museum. Scott Gustafon was... View full entry
It’s a relief on the block, representing the diversity vital to healthy streets — not a perfect building, not even its architects’ best work. But its unembarrassed, luxuriant materiality, its small scale and vulnerability, all qualities that the Modern now seems to reject, belong no less than the glass tower to the messy story of Modernism and city life. — nytimes.com
Thursday, MoMA director Glenn D. Lowry sent a memo to MoMA's trustees and staff announcing the museum had retained Diller Scofidio + Renfro to "work with us to design a plan that will integrate the Museum's current building with the property of the American Folk Art Museum. . . . We readily agreed to consider a range of options, and look forward to seeing their results." — AM New York
Thursday, MoMA director Glenn D. Lowry sent a memo to MoMA's trustees and staff announcing the museum had retained Diller Scofidio + Renfro to "work with us to design a plan that will integrate the Museum's current building with the property of the American Folk Art Museum. . . . We readily... View full entry
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. View full entry
The Modernism worth pursuing — worth protecting — is the one where Gregor Samsa wakes up transformed into a large insect, and ends up with an apple embedded in his carapace, which is exactly what the Folk Art Museum is to the Museum of Modern Art, right now, right where it is. — Places Journal
On Places, David Heymann presents an incisive critique of MoMA's decision to raze the Folk Art Museum building, by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects. From a quiet beginning — "Here is why I think the American Folk Art Museum is a great Modernist building" — Heymann works his way to... View full entry
MoMA’s plan can hardly be a surprise, because its entire history since 1937 is based on demolishing potential landmarks. — nytimes.com
The Architectural League calls on the Museum of Modern Art to reconsider its decision to demolish the American Folk Art Museum. The Museum of Modern Art—the first museum with a permanent curatorial department of architecture and design—should provide more information about why it... View full entry
Over the last week, the architectural community has been all aflutter over the fate of the former American Folk Museum Building. A 12-year-old building that was opened just after 9/11, MoMA snatched it up for $23 million in 2011 and is planning to raze its critically acclaimed sculptural bronze facade. It's inevitable, the modern art juggernaut shrugs, because the floors of the adjacent buildings, plus the rest of MoMA uses lots of glass as its primary material rather than metal. — ny.curbed.com
Over the last week, the architectural community has been all aflutter—and, okay, intensely divided—over the fate of the former American Folk Museum Building. A 12-year-old building that was opened just after 9/11 at 45 West 53rd Street, MoMA snatched it up for $23 million in 2011 and... View full entry
Come to think of it, however, here’s another idea for the folk-art-museum building: maybe it should be used to display a small selection of MoMA’s extraordinary collection, so that people can experience some of its great works in a small-scaled space and have a tiny hint of the intimate, enticing museum that MoMA once was. — vanityfair.com
Come to think of it, however, here’s another idea for the folk-art-museum building: maybe it should be used to display a small selection of MoMA’s extraordinary collection, so that people can experience some of its great works in a small-scaled space and have a tiny hint of the... View full entry
Can it be saved? A grassroots crusade to persuade MoMA not to tear down the architecturally significant 12-year-old American Folk Art Museum at 45 W. 53rd St. has erupted, igniting the passion of architects, designers, preservationists and ordinary citizens. — amny.com
Can it be saved? A grassroots crusade to persuade MoMA not to tear down the architecturally significant 12-year-old American Folk Art Museum at 45 W. 53rd St. has erupted, igniting the passion of architects, designers, preservationists and ordinary citizens. View full entry
Architects and designers, responding to the news that the Museum of Modern Art intends to demolish a former museum, have some ideas for MoMA.Their concepts, some earnest and others tongue-in-cheek, are being compiled on a tumblr called #FolkMoMA, created to challenge MoMA’s assertion that the former American Folk Art Museum building is not compatible with its expansion plans. — blogs.wsj.com
Architects and designers, responding to the news that the Museum of Modern Art intends to demolish a former museum, have some ideas for MoMA.Their concepts, some earnest and others tongue-in-cheek, are being compiled on a tumblr called #FolkMoMA, created to challenge MoMA’s assertion that... View full entry
Almost as soon as the news broke last week that the Museum of Modern Art planned to demolish the former American Folk Art Museum, a movement emerged to save it. Members of the design community—including the architects who designed the building—are registering their discontent with the decision. More than one petition is now circulating to rescue the Folk Art building as a result. — architectmagazine.com
Almost as soon as the news broke last week that the Museum of Modern Art planned to demolish the former American Folk Art Museum, a movement emerged to save it. Members of the design community—including the architects who designed the building—are registering their discontent with the... View full entry
