New Museum of Contemporary Art / OMA

Our first cultural institution in New York is a new addition to the New Museum next door to its iconic SANAA-designed building at 235 Bowery. The New Museum has been growing in visitors, exhibitions, and activities. Its diverse engagements, including its expansive education programs, its cultural incubator NEW INC, and, of course, its globally recognized exhibition program have been transforming the institution into a cultural laboratory. We were asked to add a new building that provides much-needed space for its expanded activities and simultaneously reflects increasingly public ambitions—duplicating the program and square footage on a site immediately adjacent to the existing SANAA-designed building—part and counterpart, side-by-side.