The New Museum of Contemporary Art, currently located in far west Chelsea, has been planning a move to The Bowery for some time now. Just the announcement several years ago to erect the first new museum building in downtown Manhattan in over a century drew a smattering of galleries to the nabe, causing some to speculate that The Bowery will become the alternative art gallery destination (for more on that, click here). Today The New Museum announced a ground-breaking ceremony on Oct. 11 for their new building at 235 Bowery (between Stanton and Rivington), designed by Tokyo-based architecture firm Sejima + Nishizawa/SANAA. With all the scary condo buildings going up around there, this promises to be a lovely antidote. Rooftop terraces (and the rest of the museum) should be open in time for their 30th anniversary in 2007. Rendering of interior lobby and bookstore below (click to enlarge).
Photo by Christoper Dawson, drawings by Sejima + Nishizawa/SANAA.
