Displaying items by tag: architectural firm

Socrates Sculpture Park and the Whitney Museum of American Art announced today that the Whitney’s freestanding educational studio, designed by the innovative architectural firm LOT-EK, will be donated to Socrates Sculpture Park.

"We are delighted to partner with the Whitney Museum and LOT-EK to reuse and adapt this unique structure,” said John Hatfield, Executive Director of Socrates Sculpture Park. “Rarely does a win-win situation arise that offers such a remarkable opportunity to repurpose architecture, and we look forward to working with our partners at NYC Parks to explore ways that it may be reused and adapted to benefit the community here in Long Island City. The structure will be moved temporarily to a storage facility while plans are developed for its possible reuse. By offering Socrates the 472-square-foot pop-up studio, the Whitney Museum has generously presented us with an opportunity to explore the possibility of our first indoor space, which may be used to expand the park’s longstanding free arts education program. Other possible adaptable uses may include a gallery, visitor area, or administrative space.”

The renovated Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art opened to the public yesterday. The inaugural exhibition, Gods and Glamour, features 150 loans from both private collections and public institution as well as pieces from the museum’s collection. Objects such as marble sculptures, paintings, Greek pottery, jewelry, and silver come together to illustrate what life in the ancient and medieval Mediterranean world was like. A second inaugural exhibition of late Roman and early Byzantine art loaned by the British Museum is also on view through August 25, 2013.

Designed by the architectural firm, Why, the $10 million renovation was made possible by a gift from the Jaharis Family Foundation with some funds going to acquisitions and educational programs. The new 13,707 square-foot galleries include state-of-the-art display cases by Goppian Museum Workshop in Milan.

The updated Greek, Roman, and Byzantine galleries represent the final phase of the complete reinstallation of the Institute, which began in 2008 after the then new modern wing was constructed.