Last year we started to see renderings of the New Museum's new digs on Bowery, and now they're just about ready to open their shiny new doors. On December 1st (coinciding with the institution's 30th anniversary) the SANAA-designed building will don the artist Ugo Rondinone's HELL, YES! sign, welcoming art patrons city-wide while adding a little chaos to the refined building. Below are some exterior shots (Rondinone's sign photoshopped on) and a rendering of the interior.
If you haven't heard of the SANAA firm, director of the New Museum Lisa Phillips explained to the New Yorker's Paul Goldberger that they wanted a new architect to design the building because “we thought we should be consistent with our mission of supporting new art," which led them to the Tokyo-based group. Goldberger describes the galleries at the New Museum as "illuminated in part by natural light (through skylights), have some of the virtues of neutrality but are more inviting than plain white boxes."
As for the location, in a statement the architects said that "in the end, the Bowery and the New Museum have a lot in common. Both have a history of being very accepting, open, embracing of every idiosyncrasy in an unprejudiced manner," calling the museum a mixture of "elegant and urban."
Curbed mentions that when the museum opens on December 1st at noon, "it will be open and free to the public for 30 straight hours—until 6 p.m. on December 2."
