NEW YORK CITY-Defying some preservationists and architects, the Museum of Modern Art once again reiterated its position that it plans to tear down the former home of the American Folk Art Museum on West 53rd Street here.
Architectural firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, which had been retained by the Museum of Modern Art to design its 100,500-square-foot expansion, told the museum's Board of Directors that the former site of the American Folk Art Museum could not be preserved without extensive rebuilding. The board on Wednesday approved the architect's recommendations, according to the Wall Street Journal.
"Our goal in very simple terms was to use this project to make a better museum," Museum of Modern Art Director Glenn Lowry said, "to ensure that we have the most welcoming and engaging and important museum possible."
The six-story folk-art building was praised by architectural critics when it opened in 2001. The Museum of Modern Art purchased the building in 2011 following the folk-art museum's default on approximately $32 million in bond debt. See story in the Wall Street Journal.
© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to asset-and-logo-licensing@alm.com. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.