Installation Commences for BMW Guggenheim Lab
Contemporary Art:
South and
Southeast Asia
Mix Perspectives. Amplify Voices. Propel Ideas. Guggenheim UBS MAP Global Art Initiative.
Gutai: Splendid
Playground
The first U.S. retrospective of Japan’s most important postwar art movement.
The installation of the BMW Guggenheim Lab in New York City has begun. The assembly of the carbon-fiber superstructure began on June 23, and July 2 marked the erection of the second story of the Lab. The structure was preassembled on the site, hoisted as a single unit by crane, and set upon columns that were specially engineered to receive it. The extremely high strength-to-weight ratio of this innovative material makes it durable and easy to assemble. The next phase of installation will involve the completion of components such as exterior cladding, lighting, audio/video equipment, and furnishing, and of the café and restrooms.
The BMW Guggenheim Lab is located at Houston Street at 2nd Avenue and opens on Wednesday, August 3, 2011. For more information about the project, please visit bmwguggenheimlab.org.
BMW Guggenheim Lab under construction. Photo: Ian Duncan Ball © 2011