The new MoMA is nearly double the size of its old home — far more spacious and airy, with higher ceilings, more natural light and more versatile spaces for exhibits.
Claude Monet's 1920 impressionist masterpiece "Water Lilies" is presented on an entire wall. Most artworks are arranged in chronological order; pop artist Andy Warhol shares one space with American photographer Chuck Close.
Hundreds of reporters and photographers from around the world crowded into MoMA for the press preview, which came two and a half years after the museum moved to a temporary home in Queens. Museum executives were to discuss the renovation with reporters later in the day.
The new museum opens to the public this weekend.
The design of the new six-story building, created by Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi, covers approximately 630,000 square feet. That includes exhibition space: 125,000 square feet, compared to 85,000 square feet before. The sculpture garden has grown from 18,400 square feet to 21,400 square feet.
The building stretches over an entire block, with entrances on the 53rd and 54th street sides connected by a 12,400-square-foot lobby.
Opening up the space visually was a key priority of the reconstruction, with the use of glass as a building material and the creation of a 110-foot atrium that provides for natural light.
The building, with higher ceilings and reconfigurable exhibition spaces, allows the museum to both display its collection differently, as well as showcase more of it.
