The Studio Museum in Harlem Shares New Design by Adjaye Associates + a City Canvas Collaboration While we Wait

• an increase of approximately 115 percent in space for exhibiting art and conducting the Artist-in-Residence program, from the existing 8,050 square feet to almost 17,300 square feet,
• an increase of some 47 percent in indoor space for education, public programs, and public amenities, from 6,340 square feet to more than 9,300 square feet,
• and an increase in outdoor space of 105 percent, from 3,900 square feet to almost 8,000 square feet.  The 82,000-square-foot structure will have:
• a lower level for presentations (lectures, screenings, performances, educational activities, etc.), a welcome center, a café, and public amenities,
• and a roof terrace spanning the entire building.

  Taking its cues from the brownstones, churches, and bustling sidewalks of Harlem, David Adjaye’s design provides the Studio Museum with a dynamic, sculptural facade that contrasts strongly with the surrounding commercial buildings. The building has a porous, welcoming presence at street level, a light- lled core that soars up through the entire interior, and a tiered public hall, which the architect has likened to an “inverted stoop” that invites people to step down from the street into a multiuse space that will be free and open to the public during Museum hours and used for presentations and informal gatherings.

  The masonry-framed windows of Harlem’s vernacular architecture nd an echo in the rhythmic composition of the facade, with its textured, precast concrete and windows of varying proportions.
  The radiant, soaring volumes of Harlem’s sanctuaries nd a counterpart in the top-lit central hall,
  with its ample wall area for large-scale artworks and its switchback stair, which provides multiple lookout points from its landings. A wide set of pivoting glass doors, which can be opened in di ering con gurations, draws directly on the convivial bustle of West 125th Street by establishing a transparent secondary entrance that leads directly to the descending step/seats of the tiered public hall.

  Galleries for temporary exhibitions and the Studio Museum’s unparalleled permanent collection are provided on the second, third, and fourth oors. An education center occupies part of the third oor, adjacent to a double-height gallery with a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The fourth oor accommodates both an exhibition gallery and dedicated spaces for the signature Artist-in- Residence program, which puts the “Studio” in the Museum’s name. Sta o ces are located on the fth oor, and the roof is designed for use as a terrace and event space. Niches on the facade on both the 125th and 124th

  Street sides of the building will display outdoor sculpture. Artworks will permeate the entire interior of the building as well—in the graciously proportioned formal galleries provided with ne-art temperature and humidity controls, and (for less sensitive objects) in the public corridors and common areas.

In an Event held in October, 2021, the Studio Museum in Harlem raised $210m to be used toward its new, five-story building, expected to open in 2024.

The artist Theaster Gates has been commissioned to create a site-specific artwork to be installed in the lobby.