studio gang breaks ground on sculptural expansion of american museum of natural history

new york city’s american museum of natural history (AMNH) breaks ground on its new facility, the ‘richard gilder center for science, education, and innovation’. designed by studio gang to inspire visitors of all ages to explore the world of science, the spectacular 230,000-square-foot project will add exhibition galleries, state-of-the-art classrooms, an immersive theater, and a redesigned library. the undertaking will exhibit more of the museum’s scientific collections and link ten of the museum’s buildings to improve visitor flow throughout the campus.

image by studio gang, 2019

jeanne gang with her team at studio gang designed the project to formally express earth’s natural processes. the gilder center will introduce visitors of all ages to current research through cutting-edge exhibitions and innovative education programs in dedicated learning zones. with new exhibitions — including a multi-story glass-walled ‘collections core’ which will house nearly four million scientific specimens — visitors to the museum of natural history will for the first time be allowed to see into working collections areas, revealing and highlighting the physical evidence that underpins scientific knowledge. the museum will seek a LEED gold certification by deploying a range of environmentally sustainable design strategies to reduce waste and conserve energy.

image by neoscape and studio gang, 2019

a central exhibition hall welcomes visitors to the museum with views through to new galleries and pathways into the heart of the campus. the center offers gathering spaces along a grand centralized seating height stair and bridges connecting new and existing parts of the museum. the ‘susan and peter j. solomon family insectarium’ will be the first museum gallery in more than 50 years to be dedicated to insects — the most diverse group of animals on earth, comprising more than half of known organisms. a new butterfly vivarium introduces a year-round living exhibit that will allow visitors to observe butterflies and their behaviors. see designboom’s previous coverage of the project here.

image by MIR and studio gang, 2019

UPDATE: this project has been shortlisted in the ‘future projects – culture’ category at the 2019 world architecture festival.

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project info:

project title: the richard gilder center for science, education, and innovation

architecture: studio gang

location: american museum of natural history, new york city, NY, USA

project team: studio gang, ralph appelbaum associates, and reed hilderbrand, AECOM tishman, arup, atelier ten, burohappold engineering, davis brody bond, langan engineering, renfro design group, tamschick media+space with BMA boris micka associates, venable LLP and AKRF, and zubatkin owner representation

donor: richard gilder and the gilder foundation, inc.