Manhattan's New Museum sets early spring date for reopening after $82m expansion

"The New Museum on Manhattan's Lower East Side will reopen to the public on 21 March, just over two years after it closed for the construction of an $82m expansion that will double its exhibition spaces. The expansion-designed by OMA's Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, in collaboration with the executive architect Cooper Robertson-was previously expected to open last autumn, though when the project was first announced in 2019 it was projected to open in 2022, a timeline that was set back by the Covid-19 pandemic."

"The museum's expansion, which has risen directly to the south of its 2007 building designed by the architecture firm Sanaa, adds 61,930 sq. ft-including 9,600 sq. ft of gallery space, plus education facilities, artists' studios, event spaces and dedicated rooms for the institution's incubator New Inc. It brings the institution's total footprint to 119,600 sq. ft and will significantly improve the flow of visitors through Sanaa's bottleneck-prone building with three new elevators, an atrium stairwell and an entry plaza."

"Phillips will retire in April after more than 26 years leading the institution. Rendering of the expanded New Museum Courtesy OMA/bloomimages.de The new building will be named in honour of the late philanthropist, collector and curator Toby Devan Lewis, "in recognition of her decades of service to the New Museum, carrying forward her legacy of championing art and artists", James-Keith Brown, the president of the museum's board of trustees, said in a statement."

The New Museum will reopen on 21 March following an $82m expansion that closed the institution for just over two years. The expansion by OMA's Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas with Cooper Robertson adds 61,930 sq. ft, including 9,600 sq. ft of gallery space, and brings the total footprint to 119,600 sq. ft. New facilities include education spaces, artists' studios, event areas, dedicated New Inc rooms, three elevators, an atrium stair and an entry plaza to improve visitor flow through the original 2007 Sanaa building. The new building will be named for Toby Devan Lewis and the reopening will feature site-specific commissions by Tschabalala Self and Sarah Lucas. Director Lisa Phillips will retire in April after more than 26 years.

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