FXFOWLE Tops Off Eagerly Anticipated Statue of Liberty Museum
FXFOWLE has topped off the eagerly anticipated Statue of Liberty Museum (SOLM). Designers, donors, and other affiliates celebrated by autographing the final structural steel beam before it was fit snugly into place, ushering in the next phase of construction. The first new building undertaken by the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation since the 1980’s, the museum broke ground in October 2016 and will officially open in 2019.
“The vision for this project arose from an essential idea: to merge architecture with the landscape; to see the building as an extension of this park,” says Nicholas Garrison, FXFOWLE partner and the SOLM’s project designer. “Its defining gesture is the lifting of the park itself, extending vistas rather than ending them, and creating a new, naturalized habitat in place of a traditional building.”
The 26,000-square-foot museum, which won Interior Design and ICFF’s NYCxDesign 2017 On the Boards award, has an anticipated LEED Gold certification and utilizes best practices for sustainable design, including bird-safe glass exteriors, a green roof lush with native vegetation, and a hurricane- and flood-proof structural design.
Once complete, the SOLM will feature two galleries, an immersive educational theater, and a donor mural with art by Anh Dung and the original hand-forged iron bars of Eiffel’s gift to the United States. The museum’s shining moment promises to be the Inspiration Gallery, anchored by the original torch set against a grand vista of Lady Liberty. Access to the museum will be free with a purchase of a Liberty Island or Ellis Island ferry ticket.
Click here to find out more about the project.
