OMA-designed New Museum expansion to open on march 21st, 2026
The New Museum in New York is set to reopen on March 21st, 2026, unveiling a major 5,600-square-meter expansion designed by OMA, led by Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas, in collaboration with executive architect Cooper Robertson (find designboom’s previous coverage here). The project doubles the institution’s total footprint to 11,148 square meters, extending the capacity of the museum for exhibitions, public programs, and artist-led initiatives. Opening weekend will offer free admission on March 21st and 22nd, welcoming visitors into a reconfigured building that rethinks circulation, public access, and the museum’s relationship to the street.
Designed to align with the existing SANAA building, completed in 2007, the new addition expands vertically and internally rather than reshaping the museum’s iconic stacked form. The intervention introduces new circulation systems, including three elevators, an atrium stair, and a reworked entrance plaza, aimed at improving movement across floors and increasing accessibility. The expansion also doubles gallery space, allowing exhibitions to unfold across a much broader architectural sequence. Public-facing amenities have been enlarged and relocated to the ground level, including a larger lobby, an expanded bookstore, and a full-service restaurant with a separate entrance from Freeman Alley.
rendering of the expanded New Museum | image courtesy of OMA/bloomimages
reconfigured circulation reshapes the visitor experience
The museum will reopen with New Humans: Memories of the Future, a large-scale thematic exhibition spanning the entire building. Featuring more than 200 participants across art, science, architecture, literature, and film, the exhibition traces how artists have historically imagined the future of humanity in response to technological, political, and biological transformation. Contemporary artists such as Sophia Al-Maria, Meriem Bennani, Pierre Huyghe, Wangechi Mutu, Hito Steyerl, Philippe Parreno, and Anicka Yi will be presented alongside twentieth-century figures including Francis Bacon, Hannah Höch, Salvador Dalí, H.R. Giger, Kiki Kogelnik, and El Lissitzky. Rather than positioning futurity as a fixed destination, the exhibition frames it as a recurring cultural projection shaped by each era’s anxieties and aspirations.
Upper levels house a new studio dedicated to artists-in-residence and a purpose-built home for NEW INC, the museum’s long-running cultural incubator. An expanded Sky Room on the seventh floor and a new 74-seat Forum introduce flexible venues for talks, screenings, and performances, emphasizing the institution’s evolving role as both exhibition site and discursive platform. With the coexistence of two Pritzker Prize–winning practices, OMA and SANAA, the New Museum becomes one of the few institutions globally shaped by multiple laureates working in close architectural dialogue.
rendering of the expanded New Museum and public plaza | image courtesy of OMA
site-specific commissions integrate art into the architecture
Beyond the exhibition galleries, the building incorporates a series of long-term, site-specific commissions. These include new facade work by Tschabalala Self, a monumental sculpture by Klára Hosnedlová installed along the Atrium Stair, and a public artwork by Sarah Lucas integrated into the entrance plaza. These permanent or semi-permanent interventions embed artistic production into the museum’s architectural fabric, blurring the line between building and exhibition.
‘Since our founding nearly 50 years ago, the New Museum has been a home for the most groundbreaking art of today and a haven for the artists who make it. Our new 120,000 square feet building on the Bowery signals our redoubled commitment to new art and new ideas, and to the museum as an ever-evolving site for risk-taking, collaboration, and experimentation,’ states Lisa Phillips, Toby Devan Lewis Director of the New Museum, reflecting on the significance of the expansion. The new building will be named in honor of Toby Devan Lewis, acknowledging her long-standing role in shaping the institution.
rendering of the expanded New Museum | image courtesy of OMA/bloomimages
public programming centers families, youth, and education
The reopening also expands the public programming infrastructure of the New Museum. New family- and youth-oriented initiatives include a Kids Activity Guide by Azikiwe Mohammed, audio tours designed for younger visitors, free monthly Family Days, and a recurring teen-focused art-making program. All New York City public schools will be invited for free guided visits, reinforcing the museum’s long-term educational role within the city.
OMA has also designed the New Museum’s first full-service restaurant, operated by the Oberon Group under executive chef Julia Sherman. With a vegetable-forward menu, the space will incorporate a commission by Ian Cheng and custom furniture by Minjae Kim. Meanwhile, the New Museum Store, now twice its original size, will operate independently from ticketed areas, expanding its offering of artist-made objects and publications.
a reconfigured building that rethinks circulation, public access, and the museum’s relationship to the street | image courtesy of OMA
project info:
name: museum | @newmuseum
location: 235 Bowery, New York, NY, USA
architect: OMA | @omanewyork (Shohei Shigematsu, Rem Koolhaas)
executive architect: Cooper Robertson | @cooperrobertsonpartners
existing building: SANAA | @sanaa_jimusho
total size after expansion: 11,148 square meters
new addition size: 5,600 square meters
opening exhibition: New Humans: Memories of the Future
opening date: March 21st, 2026
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