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The New York Botanical Garden The new state-of-the-art facility houses The International Plant Science Center of the New York Botanical Garden. The 70,000 square foot wing expands the original Museum Building, a domed Beaux Arts structure built in 1902. The new Janet and Arthur Ross Gallery and Lobby serves as the primary entry to the facility and as a lobby for the existing auditorium. The project also includes the restoration of the building's central domed space and the renovation of the northern wing of the Museum Building's top floor as the new LuEsther T. Mertz Library. Overall, the addition creates a new public face for the Garden at the eastern terminus of the Mosholu Parkway. This-the building's primary façade, articulated as a vertical garden wall-symbolically expresses the programmatic content of the building and announces the Garden to the City beyond. The composition creates a framework within which the live plant material will grow directly on the building from elevated planters at the second floor. The design of the new building is formally and materially integrated with the turn-of-the- century building. Formal integration is accomplished through the abstraction of its classical organization and regulating systems. The tripartite organization of the historic building's elevation is continued in the new wing. A rusticated base and a system of reveals and vertical fin projections interpret the building's Beaux Arts organizing principles. Moreover, the articulation and rhythm of the façade are reinforced by a composition of metalwork and copper accents. These copper accent panels and a cornice refer to the exterior cladding of the dome and the horizontal trim elements on the Museum Building. Publications |
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