Published on: March 11, 2009

Mader Stublic Wiermann from Berlin/Germany designed a new skin facade for the Chelsea Art Museum in New York/USA.

It features a skin layer made of LED rods that is offset away from the original facade of the museum.

The project is planned for 2010. The images are the property of MSW.

Here is some more info from MSW:

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A layer of vertical LED-rods will be installed on the façade of the Chelsea Art Museum, with a gap in between the building and the new structure. The LED structure will surpass the height of the building, to be in line with the taller buildings immediately surrounding the Museum.

The installation will feature abstract images moving across the building, at times even appearing to extend the structure of the Museum beyond its actual size. Through elaborate programming, and given that the Chelsea Art Museum building is situated on a corner, the installation will make the virtual structures appear three-dimensional. The effect will be to make it seem as though a new structure is being developed over the original façade as the viewer is watching.

The gap left between the original building and the new façade structure respects the integrity of the building, while manipulating its appearance depending on the installation’s programming and the viewers position.

Accordingly, the new façade does not replace the existing one, rather, it plays with its surface and volume. Consequently, art, normally contained within a museum, will step beyond the confines of the building to interact with the city and its inhabitants. The new architectonic volume of the building will strengthen Chelsea Art Museum’s presence in the Manhattan cityscape.