Long Island is partly occupied by the New York counties of Brooklyn and Queens, but its eastern half (East End) is rural with small towns and villages. The proximity of the metropolis, combined with picturesque landscapes, has long made the East End popular among artists who built workshops there that looked like simple sheds.
Founded in 1897, the Parrish Museum's collection consists of painters and sculptors associated with Long Island, so the starting point for the design of the new building was the artist's studio, which also resembles local farm buildings. Also, this building repeats the “archetypal” image of a house with a gable roof, characteristic of the Herzog & Meron workshop. However, in this case it is a double roof, and the museum is distinguished from its neighbors by its very long length - 187 m (with a width of 29 m). The facades are made of rough concrete, the interiors are plastered, the floors are sheathed with wood from the inside. Lamps and furniture were created specially for the museum by designer Konstantin Grchik.
The interior space is illuminated through the windows in the roof oriented exactly to the north (this orientation determined the slightly oblique position of the building relative to the boundaries of the site). A corridor runs along the ridge of the building. The central part is occupied by 10 rooms, the walls of which can be moved depending on the needs of the curators. The western end contains a lobby, a shop, a cafe, an educational center; on the eastern side, there are administration offices, a storehouse, and workshops. The wide roof overhang creates a shaded public space around the museum; outside along the entire length of the walls, a bench is arranged at the bottom, and a terrace for an outdoor cafe is also provided.
The project budget is $ 26.2 million. The total area of the building is 3200 m2.
N. F.
