By Jyoti Thottam
The Museum of Modern Art announced last week it will use the old Swingline Stapler building in Long Island City as exhibition space while it renovates its midtown Manhattan facility, museum officials said.
MoMA bought the Swingline building, at 45-20 33rd St., in August and announced last Thursday that it would use the former stapler factory building for exhibitions. The new building will be ready by late 2002 and will be used for archives, offices, storage and workshop space once the midtown renovation is over.
“MoMA has an important and exciting schedule of major exhibitions throughout its building project, and it is crucial that we have a dedicated gallery space when construction precludes exhibition on 53rd Street,” said MoMA director Glenn Lowry in a statement.
Cooper, Robertson and Partners, a Manhattan architecture and design firm, will serve as executive architect on the project. MoMA chose the former stapler factory building as its temporary exhibition space because it needed a location where it would have complete control over both security and the environment of the building, Lowry said.
“The idea is not to have it resemble MoMA at all,” said Mary Lou Strahlendorff, a spokeswoman for the museum. “It's really a different project.”
Earlier this month, MoMA officials labeled the possibility of exhibits in the Swingline building “speculation” but announced their intentions after receiving final approval from the city.
Zoning and transportation present two challenges for MoMA as it prepares for its move into Queens. The Swingline building sits in a manufacturing zone, but rather than going through the Uniform Land Use Review Process for a special permit to hold public exhibitions, MoMA obtained a permit under the rules governing temporary art fairs, Strahlendorff said.
The museum must also find a way to make sure visitors to MoMA in midtown are able to find their way to Queens. The midtown museum is closest to the E and F subway lines, but the Swingline building is readily accessible only to the No. 7 train.
Strahlendorff said the museum plans to have staff on hand at MoMA in Midtown to assist tourists with transportation to Queens, and it is considering a shuttle service.
Michael Maltzan, a Los Angeles architect who was raised in Long Island, was selected to design the Swingline building's new public spaces, including the entrance and exhibition areas.
“The challenges of this project – a temporary space, freestanding from the Manhattan museum, and part of an area in transition – are among the core issues facing museums today,” Maltzan said. “I am eager to begin exploring those issues in our design for MoMA's temporary galleries.”
Maltzan has not yet prepared a preliminary design of the new site. He was chosen because of his experience with other arts institutions, Strahlendorff said.
He was responsible for the Getty Information Institute Digital Laboratory, the expansion of the Armand Hammer Museum and the Hergott Shepard Residence, all in Los Angeles.
The new MoMA facility will not be connected to PS 1 Contemporary Arts Center, which is located several blocks away, Strahlendorff said. PS 1 and MoMA plan to merge their operations, and details of the affiliation are expected within several weeks.
