Four years after breaking ground, New York's much-loved Whitney Museum for American art reopens next Friday in a futuristic USD 422 million premises built by Italian architect Renzo Piano.
The celebrated museum of modern and contemporary American art has turned its back on the bourgeois satisfaction of the Upper East Side to move down town to the achingly cool Meatpacking District.
Sandwiched between the Hudson river and the High Line walkway, the new nine-storey building of concrete, steel and glass is more than double the size of its previous premises on Madison Avenue.
Its asymmetric, angled style reflects the industrial vibe of the neighborhood. Its high ceilings, reclaimed pine floors, vast windows and large terraces fill the building with light and offer spectacular views across Manhattan and the Hudson.
Europe-based Piano, who famously built the Pompidou Centre in Paris in the 1970s, said he was after a similar effect.
The vast, glass hall, which the Italian calls "the lobby piazza" was designed "to let people come in, not be intimidated" and feel welcome he explained at a news conference.
"You are entering a new world, the world of art and freedom," he said. "Art is about freedom."
"I hope you will feel that the building is designed to follow that freedom, to make that freedom visible."
Besides the exhibition rooms and a huge space unencumbered by structural columns, the Whitney has an education center, library, 170-seat auditorium, conservation center, cafe and restaurant.
The entire museum, which some say looks a bit like an oil tanker, covers 220,000-square-foot.
It has 40,000 square feet of indoor exhibition space and 13,000 feet of outdoor terrace galleries.
"This is a transformative moment for the Whitney," said museum director Adam Weinberg.
