During the summer months, Renzo Piano’s satellite design for the Whitney was in the midst of juggling a touch combination of obstacles (as we reported earlier) – the economic downturn, pressure from the community and of course, the indecisiveness of the museum board. Piano had been redesigning his original vision – a stone clad museum which floated above a glass lobby – to lower construction costs. After selling property, including six brownstones on Madison Avenue and two on 74th Street, for an estimated $100 million, the Whitney has raised $475 million of its $680 million goal. Finally, the expansion – an idea which has been 25 years in the making – will breakground on the 24th of May.
More about the updated museum after the break.
