The exhibition celebrates the Museum of the City of New York’s 100th year. Founded in 1923, the institution provides high-quality exhibitions and programs.
Rethinking The Future Awards 2024
Third Award | Pop-ups and Temporary (Built)
Project Name: This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture
Category: Pop-ups and Temporary (Built)
Studio Name: Studio Joseph
Design Team: Wendy Evans Joseph, Monica Coghlan, Jose-Luis Vidalon, Sharon Li
Area: 7500
Year: May 2023
Location: 1220 5th Ave, New York, NY 10029
Consultants: Media: Dome
Film Installation: Radical Media
General Contractor – Southside Design and Build
Lighting – Technical Artistry
Photography Credits: Dan King Photography
Render Credits: Studio Joseph
Encompassing the museum’s entire third floor, “This is New York” consists of four autonomous spaces that together tell the story of this great metropolis’ humanity—from personal suffering to heroic achievement to global resonance.
Each gallery has a unique environment devoted to New York lifestyle activities as reflected in arts and culture, but together, they maintain the ethereal nature of creativity. With over 400 works of art, music, literature, film, and multi-sensory experiences, we tell a powerful history that is inclusive and thought-provoking. “This is New York” is the New York of our imagination—its spirit and iconic character.
Central Gallery
The central gallery stretches the entire length of the building, a 264-foot city block. A continuous undulating armature is a framework for emotional themes such as joy, fear, loneliness, menace, and struggle. Based on these ideas, the gallery is densely populated with art and punctuated at the southern end by a physio-digital interactive, “Songs of New York.” Visitors are invited to activate songs about and for New York, the place, and the people. A printed fabric has subtle shifts in color, supporting the ethereal nature of the narrative. Labels hang on translucent sheets of cloth. Their undulating softness is more emotional than prescriptive.
Library Gallery
The gallery is dedicated to being at home, living in NYC, as portrayed in books and media. As the basis of being at home in the city, the gallery’s historical mahogany cases and window trim set up a warm palette with playful graphics. There are three distinct engagement strategies.
- A linear table: The form undulates to create surfaces where visitors can sit and read.
- Embedded casework: Iconic books and artifacts from the museum’s collection.
- An interactive bookcase: At the end of the gallery, a visitor can place each of the books or TV shows on an RFID-enabled dock, unlocking video scenes from iconic New York stories. Scenes include the interior life of Friends, The Jeffersons, Seinfeld, and Eloise at the Plaza.
South Gallery
New York grows out of how we gather, whether for entertainment on Broadway, play at the beaches, BBQ on a rooftop (tar beach!), or nightclubs. All are central to NYC’s energy. The design echoes the dynamism of the art with a dramatic palette. A dark perimeter sets off shimmering silver, curved walls. Media presentations and signature objects such as John Travolta’s white suit from Saturday Night Fever or a painting by Faith Ringgold punctuate the experience.
