$325M Expansion Plan for NYC Museum

Studio Gang Architects, founded by architect and MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang, has released designs for the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History, a $325 million, 218,000-square-foot expansion approved by the museum's trustees this week. The Board of Trustees of the American Museum of Natural History authorized proceeding to schematic design for the Columbus Avenue side of the Museum complex at 79th Street. The conceptual design for the Gilder Center is consistent with longstanding but previously unrealized aspects of the Museum's 1872 master plan, while reflecting a contemporary architectural approach that is responsive to the Museum's mission and to the current uses and character of the surrounding Theodore Roosevelt Park and neighborhood. The project still needs to pass through the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Landmarks Preservation Commission, and Community Board 7 to review, and an environmental impact statement (EIS) will be prepared for public review and comment. If approved, construction is expected to begin in 2017, with a goal to open the Gilder Center in 2020, at the conclusion of the Museum's 150th anniversary in 2019.

"The Gilder Center embraces the Museum's integrated mission and growing role in scientific research and education and its enhanced capacity to make its extensive resources even more fully accessible to the public," said Museum President Ellen Futter in a press release. "It will connect scientific facilities and collections to innovative exhibition and learning spaces featuring the latest digital and technological tools. Jeanne Gang's thrilling design facilitates a new kind of fluid, cross-disciplinary journey through the natural world while respecting the Museum's park setting."

"We uncovered a way to vastly improve visitor circulation and Museum functionality, while tapping into the desire for exploration and discovery that are emblematic of science and also part of being human," added Jeanne Gang from Studio Gang Architects. "Upon entering the space, natural daylight from above and sightlines to various activities inside invite movement through the Central Exhibition Hall on a journey towards deeper understanding. The architectural design grew out of the Museum's mission."

Approximately 80% of the project will be located within the area currently occupied by the Museum. Three existing Museum buildings will be removed to minimize the Gilder Center footprint in Theodore Roosevelt Park to about 11,600 square feet. Ralph Appelbaum of Ralph Appelbaum Associates is designing the exhibition experiences, and the landscape architecture firm is Reed Hilderbrand.

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