In 1870, the opening of the Metropolitan Museum of Art brought artwork and art education to both American citizens and international visitors. Through centuries, the museum has been through continuous changes since the ground was first broken in Central Park. From an idea of "palace" in the Central Park to the original Victorian Gothic building to the elegant Beaux-Arts classicism and to the modernist glass wing, the size of the museum has been greatly expanded and various additions were made surrounding the original structure.  Due to the changes in architecture, the museum is considered a hodgepodge of buildings constructed at different times and under different schemes and styles. In this page, one will see how the Metropolitan Museum of Art expanded and evolved over time, how the museum adapted to the constantly changing world with each architectural project and how it serves to the public. 

Introduction

The Metropolitan Museum was incorporated on April 13, 1870. In the aftermath of the Civil War, New York and the rest of the nation were expanding rapidly in an economic boom that lasted until the Panic of 1873. It was an era notable for grand and creative projects, such as the Atlantic Cable, the Brooklyn Bridge and the founding of many great cultural institutions of the nation. It was also a time of blatant corruption. For example, the scandal of the administration of Ulysses S. Grant; the stock-manipulating schemes in 1869 and the depredations of the New York City treasury in 1870. Although the New York City'es liberal-minded reform leaders had talked about founding an art museum for years, there was no call for action until 1969 when publisher Geroge P. Putnam, extolled New York's "noble" Central Park as the city's "worthy and creditable" academy of art and the "treasures" of its historical society (Heckscher). Therefore, the Central Park becomes an ideal place to locate this new national institution attracting works of art from the world.

Central Park as the Site

The Original High-Victorian Gothic Revival Building

The architects designed the original building were both trained in London architectural firms and later immigrated to New York before taking over the design of the original museum. They brought to America a deep-seated commitment to the High Victorian Gothic Revival. The most important features of High Victorian Gothic are multi-colored masonry and the pointed-and-band arch. It is also the style chose for the Boston Museum of Fine Art (1870). 

The Beaux-Arts Classicism

Later, the museum turned Richard Morris Hunt for the building's next extension. The times were economically well off. Fortunes were derived from railroads, banking, old and steel. This allows large architecture programs. The architect Richard Hunt, at that time was the dean of American architects, accepted the existing building as the center of his plan. Hunt floated the existing building in an immense rectangular court and located the main entrance to the east, which directly face to the Fifth Avenue with a subsidiary entrance on the side. The decision to directly face the Fifth Avenue lead to the need of a grandeur building facade. The scheme for the main entrance is of classical Beaux-Arts composition. From the facade, we can observe its classical symmetrical composition and axial plan. [2]

The Modernist Glass Wing

As time passes, the size of the museum has been greatly expanded with various addition made including Robert Lehman Wing, The Sackler Wing, The American Wing, Michael C. Rockefeller Wing and Lila Acheson Wallace Wing. In 1954, the Museum had retained the New York firm Brown, Lawford and Forbes for the renovation plan, with a goal of completing for the opening of the New York World's Fair in 1964. Modern exterior designs were added to the existing museum. A glass curtain wall was selected for the new library. The glass wall has anodized aluminum trim, which is emblematic of the latest corporate architecture in the International style. 

Work Cited