Editor’s Note: This article was originally published by The Art Newspaper, an editorial partner of CNN Style.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York released the first renderings of its revamped wing for modern and contemporary art, a $550-million project spanning around 126,000 square feet and designed by Frida Escobedo, the first female architect to design a wing in the museum’s 154-year history.
Construction on the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing — named in honor of the couple who donated $125 million to the project — is expected to kick off in 2026 and be completed in 2030.
“Frida Escobedo’s extraordinarily inspired, deeply thoughtful and dynamic design for the Tang Wing cements her standing as one of today’s most relevant architects,” Max Hollein, the Met’s director and chief executive, said in a statement, adding that her “elegant, contemporary design reflects not only an understanding of architectural history, materiality and artistic expression but also a deep appreciation for the Met’s mission, collection and visitors.”
Escobedo’s overhaul of the Met’s modern and contemporary art wing, which occupies the southwest corner of the museum’s Central Park complex, will not expand the museum‘s footprint but will add nearly 50% more exhibition space, bringing the wing’s total gallery areas to around 71,000 square feet.
The stepped, angular design features a facade with limestone latticework that the architect’s studio said “evokes the ‘celosía’ — a traditional Mexican breeze wall with deep historical roots in Spanish, Middle Eastern and African architectural traditions.” The design also includes 18,500 square feet of outdoor terraces on the wing’s fourth and fifth floors.
“The wing will comprise a three-story base supporting recessed fourth and fifth floors,” a representative for Escobedo’s studio said in a statement. “On the fourth floor, a combination of exhibition galleries and a terrace will showcase commissioned contemporary artworks, echoing the purpose of the existing rooftop terrace. The fifth floor will host temporary exhibitions, an additional landscaped terrace and spaces for reflection and community gathering, offering access to privileged views of Central Park and New York City.”
As of this past May, the Met had secured $550 million in private donations for the project. In addition to Escobedo’s firm, the team for the project includes executive architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners, Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects and the engineering firms Kohler Ronan and Thornton Tomasetti. The building will include several environmentally friendly features — such as controlled daylight, on-site stormwater retention, a green roof and improved thermal performance — and will seek LEED Gold certification from the US Green Building Council.
The artist and Met trustee Jordan Casteel said in a statement: “The Met has long been a wellspring of creativity for artists like me, and Frida Escobedo beautifully continues that legacy through her brilliant design that draws inspiration, in part, from the museum’s collection and existing architecture. I look forward to seeing the transformed wing brought to life, providing an enhanced platform for diverse artistic voices and perspectives to be seen and celebrated.”
The Tang Wing project is the biggest, but by no means the only, capital project in the works or already underway at the Met’s Central Park campus. The museum is in the final stages of a $70-million upgrade of its Michael C. Rockefeller Wing, which houses African, ancient American and Oceanic art galleries.
Last year, the museum also announced plans to transform one of its most prominent retail spaces into additional gallery space for its Costume Institute, which organizes wildly popular fashion exhibitions. In addition, the Met recently completed both a rehang of its American Wing to mark its centennial and a new interactive learning center.
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