New York City's Metropolitan Museum of Art is gearing up for another huge addition to its institution. Real estate developer and Met board chairman Daniel Brodsky is planning to build a 180,000 square-foot annex at 1000 Fifth Avenue, between East 80th and 84th streets on Manhattan's famous Upper East Side.
As it turns out, the project - according to the Met - "includes the potential to include the adjacent galleries for the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas as well as additional operational spaces."
According to the New York YIMBY, the expansion will be designed by British company David Chipperfield Architects "and won't rise taller than the existing two-million-square-foot art museum."
The Met's current terrace has been a huge attraction to museum visitors, so putting more available outdoor space on its additional building is only obvious.
"It will be no higher than the existing buildings that are there," Brodsky explained. "It goes down and up to a rooftop with a terrace."
Brodsky also just recently completed the David H. Koch Plaza, at the front of the museum on Fifth Avenue, worth $65 million.
However, before any changes and additions can be made, the Met will first have to secure approval from the LPC. The New York Post reports:
"As the Met is an exterior landmark and has interior portions landmarked as well, any proposed changes will need to be approved by NYC's Landmarks Preservation Commission."
Last February, the Met issued $250 million in taxable 30-year bonds, so that proceeds could fund the institution's needs for infrastructure.
In addition, Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners are also serving as consultants on a "holistic" basis as the Met "reviews all its physical plants."
Named after the building's Brutalist architect, Marcel Breuer, The Met Breuer will open on March 18, at the same place where the Whitney Museum used to be. Temporarily, the new building will house the institution's contemporary collection.
