GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM NEW YORK

Photo: Whit Preston

The site for the new Guggenheim Museum complex is located on the East River between Pier 14 to the North and Pier 9 to the South, adjacent to the South Street Seaport at the junction of Wall Street and FDR Drive.

In response to the dramatic nature of the waterfront site and the lower Manhattan skyline, the Guggenheim Museum complex is conceived as a building which would be elevated above the East River, at points rising from 64 feet to 112 feet above the surface of the River. The building would be supported by six reinforced super pylons that would be anchored directly into the bedrock of the riverbed. Raising the building above the surface of the River in this manner would allow a sense of openness to be maintained at street level, so that the visual corridor to the River would remain open from Wall Street and the surrounding neighborhood. A 279,000 square foot flat platform would be built beneath the Museum complex on the surface of the River at street level. This platform would function as a public plaza, accommodating a variety of public activities, as well as accommodating two vehicular drop off areas, art delivery facilities, and retail spaces for the Museum complex. The curvilinear outline of the public plaza would reinforce and enhance the uninterrupted flow of pedestrian traffic along the planned lower Manhattan waterfront esplanade between the South Street Seaport and the Wall Street heliport. A 41,000 square foot Water Garden, which would be converted into an ice skating rink during winter months, would be located in the center of the public plaza and would surround a 375 foot tall glass enclosed Central Atrium.
The Museum complex would be accessed through the Central Atrium, which would contain ticketing and Museum information facilities, as well as a cafŽ which would overlook the Water Garden and which would take full advantage of panoramic views of the River. From the Central Atrium, a number of grand escalators would lead visitors to a second atrium space located 64 feet above the surface of the River. Exhibition galleries, which would step up dramatically to maximum height of 256 feet above the surface of the River, would be accessed through this second atrium space. The Guggenheim Museum complex would include five components: the Permanent Collection, the Temporary Exhibition, the Center for Arts and Technologies, the Center for Architecture and Design, and a 450 foot tall Tower which would house various museum amenities, as well as executive suites and a gourmet restaurant on its uppermost levels.
The exhibition galleries for the five components of the Museum complex would be distributed in two "C" shaped wings, which would be located on the North and South sides of a central spine. This configuration would allow maximum curatorial flexibility, with each wing able to operate either independently or collectively depending on the needs of any specific exhibition. Two glass enclosed atrium spaces, one opening to views of the Brooklyn Bridge to the North and one opening to views of Governor's Island and the Statue of Liberty to the South, would connect the galleries in the North and South wings to the galleries in the upper levels of the central spine. In certain situations these atrium spaces would function as exhibition areas for large scale sculptural installations, and when not in use as exhibition areas, they would function as points of relief and reference within the larger whole of the Museum complex.
Two courtyards created in the void spaces within the North and South wings of the Museum complex would allow natural light to filter down to the Water Garden and the public plaza. The sculptural underside of the Museum complex would act as a ceiling sheltering the public plaza, suggesting to visitors the experience of being within a unique urban room open to the River. An 1100 seat performing arts center would be included in the Guggenheim Museum complex. The performing arts center would be located just to the North of the Museum complex and would be accessible directly from the pedestrian esplanade along the River. In addition, a proposed new ferry terminal would replace one of the piers currently existing on the site of the Museum complex. Rising dramatically above the surface of the East River, the proposed Guggenheim Museum complex would transform its lower Manhattan site into a highly unique cultural destination.