Susan T. Rodriguez of Ennead Architects has overseen the renovation of the Great Hall at the Brooklyn Museum, a project that expands the visitor experience and access to collections. “The goal in this first phase of renovation has been to create a grand central gallery that gives focus to this tremendous space, providing a more porous, transparent, and accessible experience,” Rodriguez says. “It re-imagines the Great Hall as layers of galleries surrounding the central space and establishes a dramatic visitor sequence that will ultimately showcase the museum’s collections.”
New freestanding walls within the hypostyle hall allow for the display of art while concealing climate control systems within. Their crisp, diagonal edges facilitate and reinforce movement from the lobby into the Great Hall. The renovated space is being inaugurated with the site-specific architectural installation, reorder: An Architectural Environment by Situ Studio, which engages the existing monumental columns with a series of suspended fabric canopies and furniture that relate to the details of the structure.
The next phase of the first-floor transformation is anticipated to begin in this fall with completion in 2013 and will include a museum café, bar, and outdoor dining terrace located directly off the lobby.
