The Whitney hopes its new home in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District will transform its relationship with artists and visitors.
The Whitney Museum of American Art has moved a number of times. From its original home in three row houses in Greenwich Village from 1931-54, the museum first upped sticks to occupy a site near the Museum of Modern Art, and then in 1966 moved to a building designed by Marcel Breuer on Madison Avenue.
Efforts to expand the landmark building proved unsuccessful, and were eventually abandoned in favour of another move to a new building designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano in the Meatpacking District in Lower Manhattan.
Construction began in 2010 and the Whitney opened its doors earlier this year following a $422m project. The new building doubles the Whitney’s exhibition spaces and includes a new education centre with art classrooms, a performance theatre and a paper study centre.
The museum’s permanent collection contains more than 21,000 works of art created by more than 3,000 artists in the US during the 20th and 21st centuries.
How challenging was it to relocate the museum and the collection to a different part of the city, and how do you hope visitors will receive the Whitney’s new home?
Donna De Salvo: The Whitney’s new building downtown continues to embody the idea and ideals of the institution that Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney established in 1914, first as the Whitney Studio and then, founded in 1930, as the Whitney Museum of American Art. I hope that when people enter the building they will feel that they’re at the Whitney they have known and loved, and that they will say: “Ah, I’m at the Whitney, but this is even better.”
The opening of this building is the fulfilment of a long-held desire we had to expand. It offered us an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the museum. It is more than a move – it is a transformation.
How do you conceive that artists will use the new spaces that you have now, and how important is the connection with contemporary artists for the museum?
The Whitney is committed to supporting the work of living artists, and this is what drove many of our design decisions.
Both interior and exterior spaces are engineered to be as flexible as possible, and our theatre and galleries have wooden floors usable for dance and performance.
We see these as aspirational spaces to be reinvented over and over again and we believe that artists, as well as curators, will show us over time how to use them.
What impact will Renzo Piano’s architectural design have on visitors’ experiences of the building, and the displays and collection?
The visitors’ experience begins even before walking into the building. In using glass walls to define the museum’s lobby, Piano has linked the interior and exterior spaces to suggest a musical largo, with a sense of openness that is continued in the outdoor galleries and windows looking east and west.
The galleries are all column-free. This is a game-changer as it allows spaces to be configured to the needs of the exhibition rather than be defined by them. Most importantly, with more than 20,000 sq ft reserved for the permanent collection, we will be able to display far more of our collection than ever before.
What is the standout exhibition, design or display of the new museum?
One great feature of our building is the 13,000 sq ft of outdoor space that can be used for the display of art. With the city as a backdrop, the space functions as a kind of urban stage.
In addition to offering vistas over the rooftops of New York, it brings a sense of connection between the art on view inside the museum and the world outside.
We also commissioned the artist Richard Artschwager to design our four elevators.
He has used his signature industrial materials to explore six themes: door, window, basket, table, rug and mirror. They speak to our mission to keep art at the centre of all
that we do.
How will the new museum influence or interact with its surrounding area in the Meatpacking District?
Before we moved, our education department, along with community stakeholders, engaged in research, outreach and an inclusive planning process to get to know our new neighbourhood.
In response, we created programmes that reach out to all age ranges and ability levels, as well as establishing partnerships with community groups including the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center and Westbeth Artists Housing.
The Meatpacking District is a fascinating mixed-use location with a vibrant history – by turns a transportation hub, industrial centre, and counter-culture scene. This sense of place will inform the work we do here.
Cost $422m
Design architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Executive architect Cooper, Robertson & Partners
Owner’s rep Gardiner & Theobald
MEP engineer Jaros Baum & Bolles
Structural engineer
Robert Silman Associates
Lighting/daylighting engineer Arup
Construction manager
Turner Construction
The Whitney Museum of American Art has moved a number of times. From its original home in three row houses in Greenwich Village from 1931-54, the museum first upped sticks to occupy a site near the Museum of Modern Art, and then in 1966 moved to a building designed by Marcel Breuer on Madison Avenue.
Efforts to expand the landmark building proved unsuccessful, and were eventually abandoned in favour of another move to a new building designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano in the Meatpacking District in Lower Manhattan.
Construction began in 2010 and the Whitney opened its doors earlier this year following a $422m project. The new building doubles the Whitney’s exhibition spaces and includes a new education centre with art classrooms, a performance theatre and a paper study centre.
The museum’s permanent collection contains more than 21,000 works of art created by more than 3,000 artists in the US during the 20th and 21st centuries.
How challenging was it to relocate the museum and the collection to a different part of the city, and how do you hope visitors will receive the Whitney’s new home?
Donna De Salvo: The Whitney’s new building downtown continues to embody the idea and ideals of the institution that Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney established in 1914, first as the Whitney Studio and then, founded in 1930, as the Whitney Museum of American Art. I hope that when people enter the building they will feel that they’re at the Whitney they have known and loved, and that they will say: “Ah, I’m at the Whitney, but this is even better.”
The opening of this building is the fulfilment of a long-held desire we had to expand. It offered us an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the museum. It is more than a move – it is a transformation.
How do you conceive that artists will use the new spaces that you have now, and how important is the connection with contemporary artists for the museum?
The Whitney is committed to supporting the work of living artists, and this is what drove many of our design decisions.
Both interior and exterior spaces are engineered to be as flexible as possible, and our theatre and galleries have wooden floors usable for dance and performance.
We see these as aspirational spaces to be reinvented over and over again and we believe that artists, as well as curators, will show us over time how to use them.
What impact will Renzo Piano’s architectural design have on visitors’ experiences of the building, and the displays and collection?
The visitors’ experience begins even before walking into the building. In using glass walls to define the museum’s lobby, Piano has linked the interior and exterior spaces to suggest a musical largo, with a sense of openness that is continued in the outdoor galleries and windows looking east and west.
The galleries are all column-free. This is a game-changer as it allows spaces to be configured to the needs of the exhibition rather than be defined by them. Most importantly, with more than 20,000 sq ft reserved for the permanent collection, we will be able to display far more of our collection than ever before.
What is the standout exhibition, design or display of the new museum?
One great feature of our building is the 13,000 sq ft of outdoor space that can be used for the display of art. With the city as a backdrop, the space functions as a kind of urban stage.
In addition to offering vistas over the rooftops of New York, it brings a sense of connection between the art on view inside the museum and the world outside.
We also commissioned the artist Richard Artschwager to design our four elevators.
He has used his signature industrial materials to explore six themes: door, window, basket, table, rug and mirror. They speak to our mission to keep art at the centre of all
that we do.
How will the new museum influence or interact with its surrounding area in the Meatpacking District?
Before we moved, our education department, along with community stakeholders, engaged in research, outreach and an inclusive planning process to get to know our new neighbourhood.
In response, we created programmes that reach out to all age ranges and ability levels, as well as establishing partnerships with community groups including the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center and Westbeth Artists Housing.
The Meatpacking District is a fascinating mixed-use location with a vibrant history – by turns a transportation hub, industrial centre, and counter-culture scene. This sense of place will inform the work we do here.
Project data
Cost $422m
Design architect Renzo Piano Building Workshop
Executive architect Cooper, Robertson & Partners
Owner’s rep Gardiner & Theobald
MEP engineer Jaros Baum & Bolles
Structural engineer
Robert Silman Associates
Lighting/daylighting engineer Arup
Construction manager
Turner Construction
