Wednesday, November 2, 2022

Demolition complete on the Bowery for the New Museum annex

Demolition is complete at 231 Bowery, the former 6-floor building that stood next to the New Museum here at Prince Street.

This space will eventually yield to the New Museum's 8-story annex...
News of the annex, which will nearly double the New Museum's size to 115,277 square feet, dates to 2016

Here's more about the new building designed by OMA, Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas ... via the OMA website:
The sleek, angular volume will connect laterally to the original museum and house three gallery floors, a cafe, a bookstore, offices, community and educational program space, art storage, and outdoor terraces. 

As a reminder, the renderings (via OMA) for the new structure ... as first seen when the plans were announced in June 2019... 

No. 231 on the Bowery was home to Daroma Restaurant Equipment until the spring of 2011 when they moved down the Bowery (and the owner pleaded guilty to tax fraud). The New Museum bought the building for $16.6 million in September 2008. According to The New York Timesthe address once provided "raw studio space for seminal New York artists like James Rosenquist and Tom Wesselmann."

The New Museum opened on the Bowery in December 2007. No word on an opening date for the annex. 

7 comments:

DrGecko said...

A "sleek angular volume" that would look more in place on a prostate MRI than on the Bowery. The usual banal fuck-you to the neighborhood.

I guess all these narcisisstic architects have no sense of place because at heart they're the worst sort of suburbinites.

Anonymous said...

Just. Digusting. Simply abominable and soulless, a strong contender in the race to the bottom of the architectural barrel.

XTC said...

I kind of like the funky, clunky, chunky shape but it's not clear if this building is for administration or displaying art. If the latter then that's not a lot of interior viewing space. Also those cut out triangular balconies are a bit weird and kind of pointless. It's an interesting juxtaposition between the old and new but more of an architect's folly than great architecture.

noble neolani said...

I just hope there is at least 3 bars in this building... Seriously, at least it is not another glass clad box, perhaps modern or post-post modern design is ready to emerge, every century takes a couple of decades to find it footing. The Bowery will soon be part of NY's lost history thanks to our corrupt laws and big developer's "buy a politician for cheap" policy which is paying unimaginable dividends.

Anonymous said...

All the verve and charm of a particularly uncomfortable suppository (to continue the theme of the first comment).

Anonymous said...

Whoever designed this obviously took the brown acid at Woodstock.

Anonymous said...

My absolutely least favorite museum.