Rafael Viñoly Architects
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Brooklyn, New York
With its glittering envelope of 8.1 million yellow ceramic tiles the new building is a landmark attraction in the ethnically diverse residential neighborhood of Crown Heights.
Photo: Chuck Choi
Seeking expanded capacity to serve a growing audience of children and families, the Brooklyn Children's Museum wanted a new public presence that would contribute to the vitality of the surrounding community.
"The design of the Brooklyn Children’s Museum is a force for shaping the creativity of young minds. Its expanded presence in the neighborhood elicits a visceral, instinctive response in children that is exciting to see.”
Rafael Viñoly
The singular structure differs from its context, in both color and physical form, yet remains welcoming and deferential to the museum’s existing built fabric.
Two stories of new construction adds a library, exhibition galleries, café, and classrooms to the existing 1977 museum. The design provides access to the existing rooftop terrace and outdoor theater, linking these spaces directly to a second-floor Kids’ Café.
Photo: Chuck Choi
Photo: Chuck Choi
The expanded plan and second-floor galleries are integrated with the existing structure through open staircases and vertical circulation cores, providing visitors with a wider array of circulation options.
Photo: Chuck Choi
Throughout the building, specially designed features ensure that the architecture remains child-accessible. Additional wooden handrails are mounted at a low level, and porthole windows punctuate the building envelope at a variety of heights and angles, yielding a series of unique elevated perspectives on the neighborhood.
Photo: Chuck Choi
Photo: Chuck Choi
The Brooklyn Children’s Museum is slated to be New York City’s first LEED-certified museum and the first to tap geothermal wells for heating and cooling purposes. Wherever possible, construction utilized rapidly renewable and recycled materials and incorporated high-performance/sustainable features. Photovoltaic cells on exterior walls convert solar energy directly into electrical power, and energy-saving sensors control the interior lighting and ventilation systems.
Photo: Michael Moran
Drawing courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects
Site Plan
Sketch courtesy Rafael Viñoly Architects
Total area: 56,000 square feet
Completed: 2008
Client: Brooklyn Children's Museum
Owner: New York City Department of Design & Construction
Architects: Rafael Viñoly Architects PC
Structural Engineer: Dewhurst MacFarlane & Partners
MEP Engineer: ARUP Mechanical Engineers
Civil Engineer: Philip Habib & Associates
Acoustic/IT/Security: Shen Milsom & Wilke, Inc.
Excavation and Foundation: Urban Foundation/Engineering, LLC
Landscape Architect: Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects
LEED Consultant: Viridian Energy & Environmental, LLC
Lighting Consultant: Lam Partners, Inc.
Construction Manager: Skanska, USA
Photographed by Chuck Choi
Rafael Viñoly Architects arcspace features
September 22, 2008