American Folk Art Museum

The American Folk Art Museum is clad in sixty-three lightly textured tombasil panels (a white bronze alloy). The building is surrounded on the front and back sides by sites owned by the Museum of Modern Art. The façade is designed to make a strong but quiet statement of independence. The lustrous, sculptural façade is the product of a manual fabrication process evocative of the hands-oriented approach characteristic of folk art; its panels are cast by pouring molten metal directly into gated forms on the concrete floor of the foundry. The faceted panels, which appear stonelike and metallic at the same time, create different visual effects catching the light of the sun as it rises and sets, east and west along 53rd Street. Seven of the eight levels of the new building are entirely dedicated to public space. The galleries on the four top floors of the building vary in scale from intimate spaces to allow for a personalized art experience to open areas for the display of larger works.