Metropolitan Museum of Art reveals design for new $550-million wing

Housing the Met’s modern and contemporary art collection from 2030, the new Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing is the first in the museum’s 154-year history to be designed by a female architect.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York released the first renderings of its revamped wing for modern and contemporary art, a $550-million project spanning around 126,000 square feet and designed by Frida Escobedo, the first female architect to design a wing in the museum’s 154-year history. Construction on the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing — named in honor of the couple who donated $125 million to the project — is expected to kick off in 2026 and be completed in 2030. “Frida Escobedo’s extraordinarily inspired, deeply thoughtful and dynamic design for the Tang Wing cements her standing as one of today’s most relevant architects,” Max Hollein, the Met’s director and chief executive, said in a statement, adding that her “elegant, contemporary design reflects not only an understanding of architectural history, materiality and artistic expression but also a deep appreciation for the Met’s mission, collection and visitors.” Escobedo’s overhaul of the Met’s modern and contemporary art wing, which occupies the southwest corner of the museum’s Central Park complex, will not expand the museum‘s footprint but will add nearly 50% more exhibition space, bringing the wing’s total gallery areas to around 71,000 square feet. The stepped, angular design features a facade with limestone latticework that the architect’s studio said “evokes the ‘celosía’ — a traditional Mexican breeze wall with deep historical roots in Spanish, Middle Eastern and African architectural traditions.” The design also includes 18,500 square feet of outdoor terraces on the wing’s fourth and fifth floors. “The wing will comprise a three-story base supporting recessed fourth and fifth floors,” a representative for Escobedo’s studio said in a statement. “On the fourth floor, a combination of exhibition galleries and a terrace will showcase commissioned contemporary artworks, echoing the purpose of the existing rooftop terrace. The fifth floor will host temporary exhibitions, an additional landscaped terrace and spaces for reflection and community gathering, offering access to privileged views of Central Park and New York City.”