Friday, April 20, 2007

Guggenheim Museum - "Restoring a Masterpiece"

A new exhibition at New York City's Guggenheim Museum highlights recent restoration work.


Image from Guggenheim Museum web site.

From The New York Times

Face-Lift for an Aging Museum
By Haeyoun Park

Since the Guggenheim Museum opened in 1959, Frank Lloyd Wright's massive spiral facade has been showing signs of cracking, mainly from seasonal temperature fluctuations that cause the concrete walls, built without expansion joints, to contract and expand. While museum officials say the facade is structurally sound, they have spent the last year inspecting each crack to devise a repair plan. On Saturday the museum opened "Restoring a Masterpiece," an exhibition (on view through July 8) that chronicles its process. The display includes a diagram that shows each crack on the building's west side [click link to NY Times above to see graphics].

From the Guggenheim Museum's web site

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and its representative, Paratus Group, have retained an extraordinary team, including the leading experts in their fields, to plan and implement the restoration:
  • Preservation Architect: Wank Adams Slavin Associates, LLP
  • Structural Engineer: Robert Silman Associates, PC
  • Mechanical Engineer: Atkinson Koven Feinberg Engineers, LLP
  • Construction Manager: F.J. Sciame Construction Company
  • Architectural Conservator: Integrated Conservation Resources
  • Consultant on Thermal and Moisture Migration: William B. Rose & Associate
The restoration of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is made possible through the generous support of Peter B. Lewis, the Board of Trustees of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, and the City of New York under the auspices of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the City Council.

For more information, click the Guggenheim Museum link above.