BY JACKSON CHEN | The Frick Collection announced on October 20 that Selldorf Architects would head an expansion effort that is expected to remain entirely within the institution’s current footprint.
During an 18-month selection process among 20 firms, museum officials sought architects that would achieve their goal of growing the space while maintaining the original domestic scale at 1 East 70th Street, a mansion built as the residence of industrialist Henry Clay Frick a century ago. As part of the expansion, the museum will open up former second floor living quarters of the Frick family to allow for more exhibition space.
In a unanimous decision, the museum’s Architectural and Long-Range-Planning Committee selected Selldorf, a recommendation later approved by the full board of trustees.
The firm, led by Annabelle Selldorf, was responsible for the renovation of New York University’s Institute for the Study of the Ancient World on East 84th Street, the modernization of the Neue Galerie on Fifth Avenue — which, like the Frick, is a 1914 Carrère and Hastings design –– and the southern expansion of the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego.
“Annabelle Selldorf is a visionary who creates elegant designs that seamlessly integrate the historic with the modern,” Ian Wardropper, director of the Frick Collection, said in a statement. “Such an approach is essential to our project, which seeks to preserve the peaceful and contemplative experience that the Frick provides to its visitors.”
Working with the museum, Selldorf will develop a design plan to address the creation of more programming and gallery space, a reconfiguration of the interior setup to improve visitor flow, and the creation of conservation spaces dedicated to preserving the building and its collections.
“Success for the project will be a visitor experience that feels deeply familiar, authentic, and reassuring for those who know and love the Frick,” Selldorf said in a press release. “And a welcoming and enchanting atmosphere for those visiting for the first time.”
The Frick faced opposition when it first proposed an expansion program in 2014, with fears that it would mar the museum’s intimate feel by removing a private garden on East 70th Street to make room for a six-story addition. The garden was created alongside some upgrades in the museum’s last significant renovation in 1977.
The museum pulled the plan in June 2015 and restarted the process with promises to not impinge on the garden and stay within the existing footprint. In March, it released a request for qualifications to 20 architecture firms it had pre-screened, with the goal of choosing an architect by the end of the year.
Charles Warren, an architect who opposed the 2014 plans, said the museum seemed to have listened to the chief complaints of opponents regarding respect for the building’s modest scale and preservation of the garden.
Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, said of Selldorf that its past projects have “typically been very thoughtful and detail-oriented.”
“We’ve been impressed by Selldorf Architects’ work in the past although we have objected to some proposals they’ve been involved with,” Bankoff said. “We are looking forward to learning more about what they are planning and looking at.”
Warren agreed that the selection of Selldorf is a positive step for the museum’s future, though he acknowledged that he had hoped that the museum would have gone with another of the candidates interviewed that had more expertise in the classical architectural style of the Frick. Warren added, however, that Selldorf and her firm have a strong track record of respecting the original character of the structures they work on.
“She’s a very capable architect and has shown she can work in sensitive historic contexts, so that makes me hopeful,” Warren said. “But we’ll have to wait and see what they do. It’s so far, so good.”
The Frick and Selldorf will begin developing conceptual designs for the expansion and expect to share their initial plans with the public in the winter of 2017-2018.
