#folkmoma

[samgrinbergcartoons]

I live in LA now, but I’ll always love New York. And I’ll never stop making comics about it!

You can read a comic I made for www.curbed.com about the recent American Folk Art Museum and MOMA controversy.

READ THE FULL COMIC HERE

[fakeisthenewreal]

Concept for the American Museum of Folk Art façade

[digroup-blog]

On our Minds: Art as architecture - MoMA and The Folk Art Building

Nick Venezia, our manager of marketing and communications, attended Tuesday night's conversation on MoMA's plans to raze the Folk Art Building (catch up here, here and here). These are his thoughts on the subject: 

The Conversation on MoMA's expansion generated some memorable moments and questions. Here are a few of my favorite:

MoMA "tried really hard" to keep The Folk Art Building. This was not the most eloquent point made by Glenn Lowry, the Director of MoMA, but it was the most frequently repeated one.

(after demolishing the Folk Art Building) How will MoMA feel in 15 years when they must expand again, and another group of board members with different priorities decides to break up the collection or move elsewhere? (Otero-Pailos)

Feasibility studies are only as good as the questions asked. (Rustow)

The continuous loop of circulation is flawed. (Stein)

MoMA smells like an airport (Otero-Pailos).

Start with the architecture to answer the questions, not the program; what is usable given the current architecture? (Ouroussoff)

Liz Diller should teach a class on architectural diplomacy. She was incredibly adept at positioning herself at her client's defense while avoiding blame for his decisions. She wants the controversial commission but doesn’t want to be hated by her peers, and somehow she was the hero of the evening to many.  

Overall it was an enthralling discussion and an exercise in the articulation of some rather complex human emotions regarding the built environment. But three days later, there is really only one response that remains on my mind as it slowly burrows into the pit of my stomach. It was Lowry's final comment, a reply to the last question of the evening asked by Reed Kroloff. He made it clear that architecture is not art, that it is tied to function, and that it should be treated as such. He bolstered this opinion with the assertion that art is completely autonomous and architecture is not. This is something that has received little attention in the press, other than being the symbolic gavel at the end of the hearing. I think it was a bold thing to say to such a crowd, and an even bolder thing to say as the director of an art museum who takes pride in its architecture collection.  

Art may be autonomous in its conception and perhaps even in its creation (if you can accept that), but once it has anything to do with MoMA, or any formal collection for that matter, it loses its autonomy and becomes inherently bound to the architecture and art with which it is presented. Its inability to remain autonomous is why we are having this conversation, and how Lowry is justifying razing the Folk Art Building. Furthermore, if he really thinks architecture is entirely linked to function then DS+R is a terrible firm to commission for the expansion. Aside from reputation, in their own words they are "an interdisciplinary design studio that integrates architecture, the visual arts, and the performing arts." They are visionaries and innovators, but I can say with some certainty they are not the most experienced group of designers to approach an architectural problem from a predominantly functional (or even strictly architectural) perspective. Aren't there plenty of boring-but-technically-proficient architecture firms out there? It leads me to believe that DS+R was hired simply because they are exactly the firm in which we needed to put our faith. Yes, they are one of the most creative firms in the world, but that's not actually what MoMA needed to save the Folk Art Building. As many have pointed out, it was an impossible task without a reevaluation of the institution's goals - goals that had been set no earlier than 2011 upon the acquisition of the Folk Art Building.

Architecture and art are inextricably related, and neither can remain fully autonomous. Many of us are scared to say it for fear of backlash but it has never been clearer than in a moment like this, when a building is so unquestionably appreciated as a piece of art. For an institution such as MoMA to decide that this particular piece is not worth saving, it does so knowing full well they are compromising their position on architecture's cultural impact. Unfortunately for admirers of the Folk Art Building, they have every right to do so while we are left to discuss the topic in a town hall style meeting that will have no bearing on the outcome.

I have only been in the profession for a little over two years. The despair I feel now is not simply the result of losing this piece of art; it is in a growing understanding of the complexity of the construction process and just how difficult it is for anyone to create such a beautiful building, no matter how talented they may be. It is sobering as a young designer to know that even in the best case scenario, when all things line up in our favor to produce an acclaimed end product, architecture is still vulnerable to the circumstances surrounding it, and a building of this artistic value can become a temporary installation rather than a permanent exhibition. 

[buildingsandbeers-blog]

Monument: American Folk Art Museum Location: New York, New York, USA Architect: Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects Year: 2001-2014

Built on a disproportionally small 40’x100’ Midtown plot, the American Folk Art Museum designed by architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien is itself an idiosyncratic nugget among its glassy rectilinear surroundings.  Clad in coarse panes of cast white bronze, its two dimensional façade expresses a directness and tactility evocative of the imperfections and innocence inherent to folk art.

In order to cope with the restrictive site, the museum expanded vertically. Heading upward from the lobby and café on the ground floor, one encounters four floors of galleries on open, catwalk-like floor slabs. Adorned by pieces from the collection, the main staircase ascends along an open atrium that doubles as a light well. Auxiliary spaces such as an auditorium, classrooms, and offices are located in the basement levels. The interior finishes of concrete, wood, and translucent green glass carry forth the sense of craft introduced by the façade.

Since having been acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in 2011, the legacy of this building has proven more complex as the museum’s intimate character is at odds with the institution’s future aspirations of uninterrupted gallery space. After only 13 years since completion, the museum is officially slated for demolition as part of MOMA’s further expansion led by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

[aljavieera]

If Liz Diller tweeted with Christopher Hawthorne

Hawthorne: @Lizzer, have you been surprised by the intensity of the critical reaction so far?

Diller: @HawthorneLAT Been hard. Maybe not as hard as the demise of the Slow House. But harder for us than for @TWBTA. 

H: @Lizzer What about the notion that you have a conflict of interest here? 

D: lol We passed the threshold of losing our identity -- we propose a different approach now. @HawthorneLAT 

H: @Lizzer Would you protest, say, plans to knock down your ICA museum in Boston five or ten years from now?

D: @HawthorneLAT Irrelevant. Folk ='s idiosyncrasy.

H: @Lizzer, Wht abt idea that most successful or memorable museum buildings are deeply idiosyncratic? i.e. Stewart Gardner, Mario Ciampi BAM

D: @HawthorneLAT Those were great museums but moma now is more like a multiuse retail development that happens to have a worldclass collection.

H: @Lizzer would you have liked more time to work on this scheme b4 it went public this way?

D: @HawthorneLAT Look, at an eventual 30 or 40 bucks per person 4 moma, who cares? We r there to clean up.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-elizabeth-diller-defends-demolition-of-folk-art-building-20140115,0,3562033.story#axzz2qhjjAwZb

[bill-rabinovitch]

There's a detailed description of key aspects of my concept on my Facebook link to go with my image -- with some comments made by others.

[archistudent]

“If a commercial developer were to tear down a small, idiosyncratic, and beautifully wrought museum in order to put up a deluxe glass box, it would be attacked as a venal and philistine act. When a fellow museum does the same thing, it’s even worse — it’s a form of betrayal.” Justin Davidson for Vulture

My tutor introduced me to the American Folk Art Museum and some of Tod Williams and Billie Tsien other works in Year Two. I'm terribly sad that this building is going, and even more so that it goes under the auspices of such a venerated instution as MoMA. 

For what it's worth, you should follow the #FolkMoMA tumblr, where people are contributing ideas on how to use or reuse the existing space without tearing down the building.

[marz-cargo]

I'm glad people are fighting for this.  It gives me hope that great minds can get the support they need to fight the superficial souls in the world.