The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City recently revealed the design for its new contemporary artificial wing – a project in the hands of the celebrated Mexican architect Frida Escobedo.
Escobedo's design of the modern and contemporary art of art of the MET is the first time in the museum's 154-year history that a woman was selected to manage the design of a large wing.
Their vision has reinterpreted the modern and contemporary galleries of the wing and doubled the exhibition area to 70,000 square foot within the existing footprint.
The design has a structured limestone facade inspired by traditional Mexicans Celosia – Architectural screens or grids – mix the influences from several cultures.
Now, to be named after the lead donors Oscar L. Tang and HM Agnes HSU-Tang wings, the transformation of the wing expansive to the rest of the museum includes.
The 45-year-old escobedo was canceled to lead the $ 550 million project in early 2022After a comprehensive search of the largest art museum in America and one of the most respected world in the world. She defeated older and more experienced architects, large studios and winners of the prestigious Pritzker architecture award.
Escobedos portfolio also includes the design of the serpentine pavilion in London in 2018 and the upcoming renovation of the Pompidou center in Paris.
Last year it was appointed world champion by Architectural Digest España (AD) as the world arc chest of 2024.
“If the Met in New York and the Pompidou Center in Paris trust their talent, there must be a reason,” wrote the publication.
Escobedos design for the MET prioritizes accessibility, sustainability and seamless integration in the expansive, versatile, labyrinthian and sometimes disorienting campus of the museum.
“The wing is in New York, but the world,” said Escobedo in an explanation. “It reflects the global nature of this great collection and is also inspired by the unique environment of the MET.”
The construction work is to begin in 2026 and complete in 2030. It is part of a greater overhaul of the MET 2 billion US dollars, which also includes renovation work on the adjacent Michael C. Rockefeller wing.
Escobedo, an emerging star in global architecture, studied architecture at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico city and then acquired a master's degree in art, design and public domain on the Harvard's Graduate School of Design. In recent years she has taught in Columbia, Harvard, Rice and Yale.
Escobedo was born in Mexico city in 1979 as the son of a doctor and a mother of sociologists and, as a teenager, always made models, although she only studied architecture at the university after “Last Minute”.
She started her professional career in collaboration with Alejandro Alarcón, a Mexican architect, whose designs reflect Mexico's cultural and social contexts. Together they founded the Perro Rojo Studio (when she was only 24 years old) in 2003, and in 2004 Casa Negra designed a house in Bravo -Valley, The México state that is mounted on four tubes above the ground and is celebrated for its dark, geometric design and integration into the surrounding natural environment.
In 2006, She founded her own company, This includes a studio in Colonia Juárez in the center of Mexico city, where she spends about half of her time – when she worked in her other studio in New York in 2022. One of her first projects was the renovation of La Tallera, the residence and the studio of the Mexican wall painter David Alfaro Siqueiros in Cuernavaca, Morelos.
Early this month, It was the subject of an article over 2,000 words in the New York TimesIn the Laurent Le Bon, the Pompidou President, said: “She is not like this strength. She wants to learn something about the history of the building. “
Escobedos portfolio includes the annual design of the serpentine pavilion in London and the upcoming renovation of the Pompidou center in Paris. Her 2018 design of the former – “a sensitive exercise in concrete stone”, including grid walls that were played with space and change of light ” – has acquired its international recognition.
In 2019 it was appointed the international fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects and her studio was appointed one of the world's best architectural companies in the world by the magazine Domus.
Escobedo is known for its minimalist yet poetic style and is based on Mexican local traditions and satisfies itself with contemporary needs. It was called pioneers in this area, which was celebrated for the bridging of historical influences with innovative design.
“Frida Escobedos exceptionally inspired, deeply thoughtful and dynamic design cemented it as one of today's most relevant architects,” said Mel director Max Hollein.
In addition to the MET and the Pompidou Center, she also works on residential buildings in Harlem and Brooklyn.
“The most beautiful thing about architecture is that they always do things for the first time in their life,” Escoteedo told El País last year.
With reports from Architecture digestionPresent Architecture recordingPresent CutPresent The economist And The country