The New Museum, the only museum in Manhattan dedicated solely to contemporary art, has announced that its 60,000-square-foot (5,570 square meters) building expansion, designed by OMA partner and architect Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas in partnership with Executive Architect Cooper Robertson, will be opened to the public on March 21, 2026.

The expanded footprint, which blends in seamlessly with the current SANAA-designed flagship building on the Bowery at Prince Street, offers twice as much gallery space for visitors to view the institution's exhibitions; fluid circulation through the addition of three elevators, an Atrium Stair, and an entrance plaza; and new venues for public programs and special events, including a new 74-seat Forum and an enlarged seventh-floor Sky Room. 

Galleries. Rendering of the expanded New Museum. Courtesy OMA/bloomimages.de

A dedicated studio for artists-in-residence and a specially constructed residence for the Museum's cultural incubator NEW INC. will be located on the upper levels of the extended structure. 

An expanded bookstore, a full-service restaurant run by the Oberon Group, and an enlarged lobby will welcome guests on the ground floor. One of the few examples of the joint work of two living Pritzker Prize-winning architects in the world will be the enlarged New Museum.

Atrium Stair. Rendering of the expanded New Museum. Courtesy OMA/bloomimages.de

"Since our founding nearly 50 years ago, the New Museum has been a home for the most groundbreaking art of today and a haven for the artists who make it," said Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director of the New Museum.

"Our new 120,000 square foot building on the Bowery signals our redoubled commitment to new art and new ideas, and to the museum as an ever-evolving site for risk-taking, collaboration, and experimentation," Phillips added.

"We are deeply thankful to the artists, community members, staff, board members, government officials, and patrons who have been our partners every step of the way, and we are extremely gratified to name the new building for the late Toby Devan Lewis in recognition of her decades of service to the New Museum, carrying forward her legacy of championing art and artists," said James-Keith Brown, President of the New Museum’s Board of Trustees.

Forum. Rendering of the expanded New Museum. Courtesy OMA/bloomimages.de

The newly enlarged New Museum will host the first exhibition, New Humans: Memories of the Future. More than 200 artists, writers, scientists, architects, and filmmakers will contribute to this enormous thematic survey, which will examine how significant cultural and technological shifts have sparked new ideas about what it means to be "human."

Placing new and recent works by artists including Sophia Al-Maria, Lucy Beech, Meriem Bennani, Cyprien Gaillard, Pierre Huyghe, Tau Lewis, Daria Martin, Wangechi Mutu, Precious Okoyomon, Berenice Olmedo, Philippe Parreno, Hito Steyerl, Jamian Juliano-Villani, Andro Wekua, and Anicka Yi in the context of works by twentieth-century artists and cultural figures such as Francis Bacon, Constant Nieuwenhuys, Salvador Dalí, Ibrahim El-Salahi, H.R. Giger, Kiki Kogelnik, Hannah Höch, Tatsuo Ikeda, Gyula Kosice, El Lissitzky, Lennart Nilsson, Eduardo Paolozzi, Carlo Rambaldi, Germaine Richier, and Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, New Humans examines the ways in which artists’ visions of the future have evolved throughout time.

Restaurant. Rendering of restaurant interior. Courtesy OMA

In addition to New Humans, the New Museum will unveil several significant new commissions that will be on permanent display in locations throughout the building. 

These include a piece by Tschabalala Self for the museum's façade, a monumental sculpture by Klě Hosnedlová for the museum's new Atrium Stair, and a piece by Sarah Lucas for the museum's new public plaza at the building's entrance.

Dusk View. Rendering of the expanded New Museum. Courtesy OMA/bloomimages.de

The New Museum is the only museum in New York City dedicated solely to contemporary art. The New Museum was established in 1977 and serves as a hub for documentation, exhibitions, and information on contemporary artists worldwide. 

From its humble origins as a one-room office on Hudson Street to the opening of its first freestanding building on the Bowery in 2007, which was built by SANAA, the New Museum has remained a center for innovation, new ideas, and new art.

Read more about the New Museum expansion on the World Architecture Community.

The top image in the article: Exterior View. Rendering of the expanded New Museum. Courtesy OMA/bloomimages.de.

> via New Museum

concept cultural building museum OMA Rem Koolhaas Shohei Shigematsu