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Metropolitan Museum of Art – The Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art

New York, NY, USA
Architect
Frida Escobedo studio
Executive Architect
Beyer Blinder Belle

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s redesigned Modern and Contemporary Art Wing will provide a new home for the institution’s vast collection of 20th- and 21st-century art while advancing essential standards and goals of accessibility, modern infrastructure, and sustainable design. Designed by Frida Escobedo Studio in collaboration with Beyer Blinder Belle, the new Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing draws inspiration from the Met’s prominent Central Park and Fifth Avenue setting, its twenty-one interconnected buildings, and its 154-year architectural history. The redesign expands gallery space by nearly fifty percent—adding more than 70,000 sq ft and bringing the total area of the Tang Wing to approximately 126,000 sq ft.

Its architectural envelope—a latticed limestone that wraps around the southwest corner and incorporates floor-to-ceiling glass—creates a dynamic facade that shifts with the movement of sunlight throughout the day, referencing both the museum’s architectural heritage and a timeless design language. The scaled composition of the facade, defined by a three-story base, a recessed fourth floor, and a further set-back fifth floor, continues the rhythmic interplay of solids and voids envisioned in earlier master plans. The Tang Wing’s galleries, featuring varied ceiling heights and dimensions, connect to adjacent collections through eight entrances. This fluid spatial organization supports flexible exhibition programming while fostering stronger dialogues among regions and artistic movements. Approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the new wing more fully integrates the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries within the Museum’s broader campus, enhancing transparency and connection to the surrounding park and introducing a fifth-floor café and landscaped terrace.

Front is providing consulting services from concept design through construction administration, encompassing all exterior glass systems, celosia stone screens, stone-clad wall systems, stone railings, skylights, exterior doors, and other opaque cladding assemblies.

Courtesy of Frida Escobedo Studio
Courtesy of Frida Escobedo Studio
Courtesy of Frida Escobedo Studio
Courtesy of Frida Escobedo Studio
Courtesy of Frida Escobedo Studio

The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s redesigned Modern and Contemporary Art Wing will provide a new home for the institution’s vast collection of 20th- and 21st-century art while advancing essential standards and goals of accessibility, modern infrastructure, and sustainable design. Designed by Frida Escobedo Studio in collaboration with Beyer Blinder Belle, the new Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing draws inspiration from the Met’s prominent Central Park and Fifth Avenue setting, its twenty-one interconnected buildings, and its 154-year architectural history. The redesign expands gallery space by nearly fifty percent—adding more than 70,000 sq ft and bringing the total area of the Tang Wing to approximately 126,000 sq ft.

Its architectural envelope—a latticed limestone that wraps around the southwest corner and incorporates floor-to-ceiling glass—creates a dynamic facade that shifts with the movement of sunlight throughout the day, referencing both the museum’s architectural heritage and a timeless design language. The scaled composition of the facade, defined by a three-story base, a recessed fourth floor, and a further set-back fifth floor, continues the rhythmic interplay of solids and voids envisioned in earlier master plans. The Tang Wing’s galleries, featuring varied ceiling heights and dimensions, connect to adjacent collections through eight entrances. This fluid spatial organization supports flexible exhibition programming while fostering stronger dialogues among regions and artistic movements. Approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the new wing more fully integrates the Modern and Contemporary Art galleries within the Museum’s broader campus, enhancing transparency and connection to the surrounding park and introducing a fifth-floor café and landscaped terrace.

Front is providing consulting services from concept design through construction administration, encompassing all exterior glass systems, celosia stone screens, stone-clad wall systems, stone railings, skylights, exterior doors, and other opaque cladding assemblies.

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