Architecture and design of the New York Aquarium,
The architecture of the New York Aquarium speaks to the long history of the place,
which opened on December 10, 1896, and has lived through many eras over three centuries.
In 2006, a competition was announced to develop the museum’s exterior appearance to make it appear more attractive,
and the winning design was chosen by WRT and Cloud9.
The design then featured a whale-like fence above the museum, but this concept was scrapped in March 2008.
This has been attributed to concerns about the design cost and practicality of building future exhibits under the fence.
Plans were later announced for a new shark-based exhibit,
with a capacity of 2,970,000 liters and an area of 5,300 m2, then called Wonders of the Ocean: Sharks.
But the New York Aquarium suffered major damage in October 2012 due to Hurricane Sandy.
Which led to severe flooding of the facility and a power outage.
Then a small group of WCS employees who remained on site during the hurricane were able to rescue 80% of the animals in the group.
Therefore, construction of the exhibit was delayed until it began work in January 2014,
and it opened on June 30, 2018, becoming the first major exhibit at the New York Aquarium to open after Hurricane Sandy.
The museum closed for four months starting in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City, which shuttered nearly all businesses across the city.
Then the museum was reopened in July 2020, and at the same time a new exhibition was opened called Spineless, which was then dedicated to marine invertebrates.
Features of the design of the aquarium in the New York Aquarium
The three-story, 57,000-square-foot aquarium is the first major project to be undertaken from the master-planned New York Aquarium,
completed by MIG in 2003, in collaboration with Portico and ESKW Architects.
Inspired by fish scales and the coordinated movement of schools of fish,
the artwork consists of tens of thousands of articulated aluminum and stainless steel panels that sway in the wind and reflect light and color from the sky and its immediate surroundings.
The design mimics the surface of the ocean,
as its shape changes from one moment to the next as it responds and detects the comings and goings of winds, clouds, and ambient light.
The artwork was able to eliminate the boundaries between the building and the Earth’s atmosphere.
To create a sense of complex patterns embedded in natural winds.
A spiral ramp outside the building reveals stunning views of the ocean and leads visitors to the roof of the New York Aquarium, which includes classrooms, interactive exhibits and a café.
Characteristics of the architecture of the shark exhibit at the New York Aquarium
The building’s fluid geometry resembles landforms sculpted by water,
and the design uses wind, sunlight and ocean air to attract visitors with an ever-changing façade that has a fluid, shimmering watery appearance.
It was completed in 2018.
The design won the 2019 AZA Top Honors in Exhibition Design;
Kinematic Facade Processing Award,
Lumening Society NYC Lumen Awards, 2019; and NYCxDesign Awards,
Architectural Installation/Pop-ups, 2019 and the New York City Public Design Commission Award for Excellence in Design in 2012.
