Brooklyn Museum Entry Pavilion and Plaza
No less monumental than the original but with an openness that declares the institution’s public mission, the Entry Pavilion and Plaza transform and energize the Museum’s identity on Eastern Parkway.
The temporal collision between past and present allowed us to celebrate change and newness, and to help the institution recast itself as an open and accessible public place and a Museum for the twenty-first century.
The glass entry pavilion and new plaza create a revitalized public identity for the Museum and reintegrate the building with its site and neighboring urban context
Distilling the principles of McKim, Mead & White's design, the permeable and minimalist hemispherical pavilion acts as a counterpoint to the opacity and symmetry of the original neo-classical structure, radically reinventing accessibility to the Museum both in concept and in practice.
The memory of the original grand entry stair became a formal inspiration for three sets of metaphorical steps: the stepped glass construction of the pavilion roof, the stepped amphitheater facing out toward the fountain and Eastern Parkway, and the terraced lawn sections facing the new pavilion’s glass enclosure.
The pavilion performs the formal and programmatic function once provided by the Grand Staircase, connecting the plaza to the monumental façade, mediating between the horizontal plane of the landscape and the vertical plane of the building, and sponsoring a space of informal public interaction.
Details
- Year
- 2005
- Location
- Brooklyn, NY
- Size
- 39,400 GSF
- Program
- Lobby, Public Plaza, Outdoor Exhibition, Performance Space
Team
- Ennead Design Team
- James S. Polshek, 1930-2022, Duncan Hazard, Don Weinreich, Robert Young, David Tepper, Craig Mutter, Robert Condon, Deborah Campbell, John Feit, Russell Fredette, Michael Halfants, Elliott Hodges, Oneka Horne, Eugine Huang, James Ke, Kwansoo Kim, Jong Kim, Sally Leung, Jane Lin, Andrea Mason, Sherrill Moore, William Rosebro, Alajandro Salazar, Marc Schaut, James Sinks, Daniel Stube, David Wallance, Thomas Wong
- Photography / Videography
- Jeff Goldberg/Esto, Ben Rahn/A-Frame, Aislinn Weidele/Ennead Architects
Awards
- 2006
- Merit Award, AIA/New York State, 2006
- 2005
- Citation, AIA/New York, 2005
- Building Brooklyn Award, Arts and Culture Category, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, 2005
- 2004
- Annual Award, The Municipal Art Society, 2004
- Award for Excellence in Design, The Art Commission of The City of New York, 2004
- Cultural Project of the Year, Best of 2004, New York Construction, 2004
Press
- 2020
- 2011
- Bartolot, Lana . "Growing a garden in the Great Hall" (The Wall Street Journal, 2/4/2011)
- Vogel, Carol. "Creating a Great Place of Culture in Brooklyn" (The New York Times, 2/24/2011)
- 2005
- Anderson, Kurt. "New York's Architectural Snooze is finally over" (New York Magazine, 11/28/2005)
- 2004
- Collins, Glenn. "A Brooklyn Landmark Gets Its Crown Back" (The New York Times, 5/17/2004)
- Giovannini, Joseph. "Light Fantastic" (New York Magazine, 5/3/2004)
- Hamil, Denis . "Museum redo is a work of art" (New York Daily News, 4/4/2004)
- Kissel, Howard. "Art-full entrance: B'klyn Museum reborn with local works" (New York Daily News, 4/16/2004)
- Lubell, Sam. "New Entrance Completed for Brooklyn Museum of Art" (Architectural Record, 6/2004)
- Muschamp, Herbert . "Brooklyn's Radiant New Art Palace" (The New York Times, 4/16/2004)
- 2000
- Muschamp, Herbert . "A Modern Embellishment Seeks Harmony with a Beaux-Arts Jewel" (The New York Times, 9/20/2000)