NY Met museum rebuilds wing

A redesigned wing at the Met will shed more light on the modern art and lure more donated works.

Still, as evident in the case of the New York Public Library's scuttled renovation for its flagship Fifth Avenue branch, enthusiastic planning is not enough to underwrite a major structural change on this scale. Any redesign will require considerable fundraising and the approval of city agencies like the Landmarks Preservation Commission and the parks department.

The Met's most recent master plan, drafted in 1970, added 1 million square feet (93,000 square meters) to the museum on Fifth Avenue - like the American Wing and Sackler Wing (which houses the Temple of Dendur) - over a 30-year period.

Those changes include the recent renovations of the Islamic galleries and the Costume Institute, which just reopened. An overhaul of the Fifth Avenue plaza is also underway.

Two years ago, the Met quietly commissioned a sweeping feasibility study of its physical plant, which was completed last fall by Beyer Blinder Belle. A committee of trustees and staff is plotting next steps.

Philippe de Montebello, the Met's former director, says he was not privy to the museum's internal discussions but believed the Met had to start over, given Lauder's gift "and the need to rationalize the collections of late 19th into 20th and 21st centuries."

"That wing has to be completely redesigned," he says. "I can't imagine this would be merely a fix-it solution. I suspect that it would need to be torn down and rebuilt."

The reconstruction of the Wallace Wing will offer the Met naming opportunities for a new donor.

"That is something we'd have to think about," Campbell says. "We might honor the Wallace legacy by naming another part of the museum."

The Met officials say they also hoped an improved space would lure more donated works of art.

"We've got areas of strength and we've got big areas of weakness, and, of course, we can't afford to buy at current prices," Campbell says. "One of my goals is to make attractive galleries where collectors and donors feel they are giving to spaces where their art will be meaningful."