The following letter to the editor of New York magazine was submitted by AAO Board member Chase Rynd of the National Building Museum. The article, which appeared in the AAO January '11 e-newsletter proposes establishing an architecture museum at the site of what is currently the Whitney Museum. The Whitney is preparing to move to a new home elsewhere in Manhattan...
To the Editor of New York Magazine:
In his article “An Architectural Plan: What to do with the Whitney’s building after its art moves downtown,” Justin Davidson advocates turning the Breuer-designed building into a museum dedicated to architecture, suggesting that such an institution would fill a cultural void. While it is true that there is no major museum in New York dedicated to all aspects of architecture, there is such an institution not far away in Washington, D.C.: the National Building Museum. The Museum’s mission, in fact, extends beyond the architectural discipline to encompass all aspects of the built environment, thus illuminating the profound and multifaceted impact of design, engineering, and planning on people’s lives.
Mr. Davidson accurately describes the challenges inherent in presenting exhibitions about architecture, including the complexity of the subject matter and problems of scale, but the National Building Museum has a track record of exhibitions and programs that successfully engage diverse audiences while advancing scholarship and understanding of the world we build. Although the Museum is based in Washington, its reach is national and even international: our curriculum kits, for instance, introduce design and planning principles to primary and secondary school students across the country, while our exhibitions frequently travel to other museums and cultural institutions around the world. In fact, the National Building Museum was part of the consortium – along with the Finnish Cultural Institute, the Museum of Finnish Architecture – that organized the exhibition on Eero Saarinen that Mr. Davidson praised in his article. The exhibition debuted in Helsinki, was presented at the National Building Museum in 2008, and later traveled to both New York and New Haven.
The National Building Museum frequently collaborates with prominent people and institutions in New York – indeed, we are proud to count Robert A.M. Stern among our recent trustees (and now an honorary trustee) – and is exploring ways to have even more of a presence there. We certainly agree with Mr. Davidson that there is more room for presentation and public discussion of architecture, but I wanted to make sure that your readers were aware that there already exists a vibrant museum committed to exploring architecture in a comprehensive way, and which maintains strong ties to the New York metropolitan area. As just one example, we are currently presenting an exhibition called Designing Tomorrow: America’s World’s Fairs of the 1930s, which features an array of spectacular images and artifacts from the New York World’s Fair of 1939-40. I encourage you to visit the National Building Museum the next time you are in the nation’s capital. Meanwhile, learn more about our mission and programs through our website at www.nbm.org.
Chase W. Rynd
President and Executive Director
National Building Museum