Craft Museum picks architect. . appoints Allied Works Architecture - Front Page - Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design formerly the American Craft Museum - Brief Article

Art in America, Jan, 2003

The newly named Museum of Contemporary Arts and Design in New York, formerly the American Craft Museum, has selected Allied Works Architecture of Portland, Ore., to redesign a vacant 54,000-square-foot Edward Durell Stone building for its future home. Last July, the museum received approval from the city to take over Two Columbus Circle, a nine-story, white marble-clad building overlooking Central Park [see "Front Page," Sept. '02].

Allied Works, headed by Brad Cloepfil, won out over finalists Zaha Hadid, based in London, and the New York firms of Toshiko Mod and Smith-Mille Hawkinson. Cloepfil told the New York Times that he was "aiming for a redesign reminiscent of the original." Allied Works designed the new Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis, scheduled to open later this year, and was recently selected for the Seattle Art Museum's expansion.

The museum has appointed Laurie Beckelman, who recently oversaw the Guggenheim Museum's plans to build a new downtown facility and who once served as commissioner and chair of the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission, to direct the $30-million construction project. The scheme must undergo a mandatory land-use review--expected to take a year--before construction can begin.