Fourth Time's the Charm
Selldorf Architects tapped for Frick Collection expansion
By Zach Edelson (@ZacharyEdelson) • December 7, 2016
Selldorf Architects tapped for Frick Collection expansion. (Courtesy t-mizo/Flickr)
New York–based art-world veterans Selldorf Architects will helm The Frick Collection's enhancement of its existing Upper East Side Manhattan home, the Henry Clay Frick House. Selldorf was selected from 20 candidates after an 18-month review period.
The Frick's road to expansion has been rocky. In June 2015, in the face of strong criticism from architects and preservationists, the museum abandoned plans to replace a gated garden with an historicist six-story tower by Davis Brody Bond. That added to a string of failed expansions (in 2001, 2005, and 2008) but the museum vowed to increase its exhibition space.
According to the Frick representatives, this latest round will work within the building's existing footprint. The upgrades include converting a set of second-floor rooms to galleries, creating a new special gallery on the main floor, improving circulation and accessibility for those with physical disabilities, and installing new facilities dedicated to educational programming and conservation.
For now, the expansion is in its earliest stages. The configuration of the second-floor galleries and the placement of the new facilities haven't been decided but more details will be revealed during winter 2017–2018.
Zach Edelson (@ZacharyEdelson)
Zach Edelson is the Web Editor at the Architect's Newspaper.
Museums New York City Selldorf Architects The Frick
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