A mock up of the proposed Museum of Modern Art entrance, complete with a canopy.
And no matter your opinion on the controversial demolition, the new plan from New York-based architecture firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro is impressive, adding a whopping 30% more gallery space to the 125,000-square-foot building, according to Architect Magazine.
The new addition will make traffic flow throughout the museum much less congested.
On Wednesday, the press got an advanced look at the plans and mock ups of what the new building could look like. According to Architect Magazine writer Joseph Giovannini:
In the space of the Folk Art Museum, Diller proposed a cavernous "art garage" - to be called the Art Bay - open to the street with a liftable glass facade to allow visitors admission. The floor could elevate, creating seating facing a stage to an auditorium that would also open to the street (with free admission). She also proposed an east-west axis that would cross the existing ticket lobby and would stretch through the garden, which would be open off the axis and also off the street (again, free to the public).
The new wing will also connect to Jean Nouvel's new 82-story residential tower, which is currently in-development with a planned three floors dedicated to MoMA space that The New York Times reports will add another 39,000 square feet to MoMA.
In addition to more space, the redesign will focus on improving the museum entrance and making traffic flow better between exhibits. MoMA has already moved the ticket scanners deeper into the lobby at the suggestion of Diller Scofidio + Renfro to try and eliminate congestion at the entrance.
Bystanders will be able to see into the museum, and there will be spaces free to the public.
"This is now a much bigger project than we had envisioned," Glenn Lowry, the director of the MoMA, told the Times. "We have to figure out how to cost it out."