Many great institutions were designed to be austere and imposing,
which can feel out of step with today’s emphasis on egalitarian and
engaging design. In recent years, extensions have become opportunities
to not just expand the square footage of a space, but to reinvent its remit
by fostering new connections and interactions.
A prime example of bridging a hallowed past and an innovative
future comes from Studio Gang’s planned addition to the
American Natural History Museum on New York’s Upper West
Side. The undulating extension will sit at the heart of the ten-
building campus, creating approximately 30 new connections
between the existing buildings as well as a vast new series of
modern galleries, breathing new life into a sprawling complex.
‘Through a network of new connections, people will be able
to follow their own curiosity to discover treasures of natural
history,’ said studio founder Jeanne Gang at the ground-
breaking ceremony last summer, explaining how this collection
of once distinct buildings will be unified into a singular, fluid
experience.
Bridging the past, present and future is also at the heart of the
forthcoming Foster + Partners extension to the Bilbao Fine Arts
Museum. ‘Our design will restore the existing mid-20th-century building
and setting to its original glory, create a new publicly accessible atrium
space and add major new galleries for contemporary art in a floating
pavilion,’ explains Sir Norman Foster of the project, which takes the
1940s design as a ‘primary protagonist’ but explicitly aims to ‘write a
new chapter in the life of the institution’.
It’s not only traditional institutions that are benefiting from a
new design philosophy of open access and fluid connections,
however. The SANAA-designed New Museum in New York
only dates back to 2007, but the extension currently underway
by OMA will represent a radical opening up of the design to
the neighbourhood. ‘We wanted to create a highly public face –
starting from the exterior plaza and atrium stair to the terraced
multipurpose rooms at the top – that will be a conduit of art and
activities providing an openness to engage with Bowery and the
city beyond,’ says OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu.
MAJOR
MAKE-
OVERS
TOP LEFT Studio Gang’s
forthcoming addition to
the American Natural
History Museum in
New York will create
approximately 30 new
connections between
the existing buildings.
LEFT OMA’s in-progress
extension to the
SANAA-designed New
Museum in New York
will radically open up
the institution to its
surroundings.
Feature 149