NEW YORK.- The Museum of Modern Art reopens to the public on Saturday, November 20, 2004, after undergoing the most extensive rebuilding and renovation project in its 75-year history. Architect Yoshio Taniguchi has created a sublime design that integrates new construction with historic renovation to provide the ideal context for the world’s preeminent collection of modern and contemporary art.

Admission to the Museum will be free of charge on opening day as a special gift to the public for its steadfast support. Free admission is made possible by the generous contribution of lead sponsor JPMorgan Chase. The new Museum of Modern Art nearly doubles the capacity of the former building, encompassing approximately 630,000 square feet of new and renovated space on six floors. The total exhibition space of the Museum increased from 85,000 to 125,000 square feet, with galleries clustered around a soaring 110-foot-tall atrium that brings natural light into the building and provides glimpses of the cityscape beyond.

Museum Director Glenn D. Lowry says, “I am delighted to announce that our reopening in Manhattan on November 20 will mark a new era for the Museum as well as the commemoration of our 75th anniversary. In this superb building realized by Yoshio Taniguchi, the legacy of our founders will resonate with a new audience eager to see and learn about the best in modern and contemporary art. The reconceived building enables us to better articulate our mission in innovative and exciting ways.”

The new building engages the public with a 12,400-square-foot lobby that connects 53rd and 54th Streets and provides two major entrances to the Museum. The renovated facade on 53rd Street links MoMA’s past with its future in a street-level panorama of MoMA’s architectural history, while an entirely new design on 54th Street provides another public entrance through a serene and unified facade.

Taniguchi’s design weaves the building into the urban fabric of New York and reflects the vitality of the city, presenting a unique solution to the density and complexity of a midtown Manhattan site. The design combines abundant natural light with materials such as glass, granite, and aluminum to create an elegant structure notable for its shifting perspectives and visual surprise. Expanses of glass open up the Museum and provide inviting views through the lobby to The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, restored to its original size and now visually accessible from many vantage points throughout the Museum.

Inside, a grand stair leads to the contemporary art galleries on the second level, where contemporary works will be prominently displayed in a block-wide column-free space with nearly 22-foot ceilings, demonstrating MoMA’s commitment to the art of our time. In addition to contemporary art, the second floor will include galleries for prints & illustrated books, the media gallery, a café, and a bookstore reading room. Additional galleries for the collection will be housed on the third, fourth and fifth floors. The third floor features gallery space for architecture and design, drawings, photography, and temporary exhibitions. Fixed and variable galleries on the fourth and fifth floors are devoted to painting and sculpture from MoMA’s collection with a grand stair connecting the two floors.

Galleries with expansive sky-lit spaces that will house temporary exhibitions are located on the sixth floor. On the lower level, the refurbished Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters 1 and 2, with upgraded digital surround sound and projection systems, will present the Museum’s film and media program.

Kohn Pedersen Fox served as Executive Architect on the project. Nine Museums by Yoshio Taniguchi will be the inaugural display in the temporary exhibition space on the third floor, organized by Terence Riley, The Philip Johnson Chief Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, The Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition will present the new Museum of Modern Art in the context of the other extraordinary art museums that Taniguchi has designed over the last 25 years.