Today, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York opened an outpost in the Marcel Breuer–designed building formerly occupied by the Whitney Museum, which last year moved downtown into a new building designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop with Cooper Robertson. (Read Karrie Jacob’s ode to Breuer’s Whitney from 2014.) The Met has leased the 82,000-square-foot building from the Whitney for eight years.
New York and Washington, D.C.–based firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners led a restoration of the structure, today known as the Met Breuer. According to the architect’s statement, Breuer’s “belief that materials become more dignified over time through weathering and use has guided our work,” which included removing “inappropriate or obsolete interventions made after 1966” as well as restoring walls, floors, fixtures, handrails, and lighting. “The restoration carefully distinguishes patina from damage, reserving gentle, targeted cleaning for areas that suffered soiling and damage.” Architect Günther Vogt (part of the duo who created the second Roof Garden installation at the main Met building) also created a landscape installation at the Met Breuer.
View more projects by Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners in ARCHITECT’s Project Gallery.
