AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

an exploration of identity, access & expansion on 77th street

This project transforms the 77th Street entrance to the Natural History Museum, shaping a didactic landscape that presents the Museum as institution of education and exploration. The intent was to establish a new entry sequence, allowing the visitor to experience a transition from the distractions of the city to the controlled presentation of the Museum, enhance the public's awareness of the site's natural environment and its historic building through a series of new views and vantages and increase understanding of the Museum's mission by making the historic building's presence and distinctive architectural features newly prominent.

In its current configuration, the U-shaped drive, originally designed for vehicles, is inappropriately used for pedestrians. Visitors can better understand the man/nature linkages in the galleries beyond by immersion in the landscape. Experiencing the transformation from the city to the Museum, visitors pass through a layered entry sequence that extends the entire length of 77th Street. This approach prepares the viewer for what is to come, the entrance into an alternate environment of contemplation, serenity, and exploration.

As the main focus is the site, the arcing path connects the street, the lawn, the reflecting pool and the entryways. The changes in elevation along the path increase the visitor's perception of the Museum and its environment. The existing sidewalk elevation is maintained, while sloping lawns can be used for sitting or small gatherings.

Benches at the top of the slope allow views over the reflecting pools and the entry path. The new reflecting pool mirrors the historic facade, encouraging the rediscovery of the rusticated stone expanse. A proposed terrace restaurant enlivens the historically prominent, arched piano nobile. Below the historic stairs, the relocation of the entry doors to the new lower level culminates the penetration of the landscape.

The entry sequence also addresses the Museum's embrace of both the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries. The proposal is of two architectural worlds: restoration efforts that enhance the historic building but do not confuse it by adding 'historic' features, and contemporary interventions that complement the building entry yet are set apart from historic elements. By addressing a contrast between the historic stone structure, a reflecting pool, and a new glass-and-steel architecture, the juxtapositions of our proposal reinforce both the potential of modern materials and techniques together with the discipline of restoration.

The project is, ultimately, about exploration, both in its connection to the outer world and discovery of the inner universe of biology. As the Rose Center for Earth and Space introduces the outer universe, the 77th Street entry sequence establishes an entry to the inner universe. The city, the landscape, and the building give us the context for an expanded understanding of the Museum and its vital public role.

Status: Completed

Location: New York, NY

Size: 50,000 sf

Client: American Museum of Natural History

Completed by Jonathan Schloss at Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates.