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April 8, 2022 • Schneps Media
A new home for heritage
Museum of Chinese in America unveils new headquarters plan
BY MYRIAN GARCIA
On April 1, the Museum of
Chinese in America unveiled
plans for its new
headquarters, which would amplify
the history of the Chinese diaspora
and provide state-of-the-art
community gathering space.
The purpose of MOCA’s new
headquarters is to replace the old location
and provide a better space for
MOCA. The current headquarters,
located in Chinatown, currently has
a footprint of 12,000 square feet.
In 2020, the MOCA was named
one of 20 “America’s Cultural Treasures”
by the Ford Foundation along
with a grant of $3 million to ensure
MOCA’s continued sustainability. A
new and enhanced building would
help provide MOCA with the space
to continue its work.
The new facility will expand
the current footprint to more than
68,000 square feet. The building
will feature a center for research
and genealogy, theater, classrooms,
cooking demonstration kitchen,
exhibit space, canteen and outdoor
gathering spaces. The new additions
will offer visitors a welcoming place
for research, exploration, education,
creation and gathering.
Additionally, the new space will
provide Chinatown and the surrounding
neighborhoods a place
for local groups to collaborate and
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
showcase work, share multigenerational
experiences, and create new
works of art – the first state-of-theart
location of its kind in the area.
“Amid national waves of anti-
Chinese American ignorance and
fraught U.S.-China relations, there
has perhaps been no more critical
moment in recent memory for
MOCA to serve as a hub for this
important yet tragically overlooked
history of the Chinese diaspora in
the United States,” said Nancy Yao
Maasbach, President of the Museum
of Chinese in America.
Maya Lin is the designer of the
new facility. Lin’s design is inspired
by the tangram, an ancient Chinese
mathematical puzzle. This simple
yet intricate puzzle translates to a
metal panel facade as well as interior
volumes connecting the exhibition
floors, classrooms and event
spaces. The shifting planes and
perforated panels allow daylight
to strategically enter the exhibition
spaces and larger openings to light
workspaces and classrooms as well
as create views.
Lin’s design also takes inspiration
from vertical Chinese landscape
paintings. Rising from a stone
plinth, the solid body of the building,
like a tree-covered mountain,
disappears into a cloud-like lattice
that holds a two-story lecture hall
and auditorium.
“This is a true passion project
for me,” said Maya Lin, Founder of
Maya Lin Studio. “As a child of Chinese
immigrants, I have throughout
my life experienced firsthand anti-
Asian discrimination and hostility.
I’ve been drawn to MOCA and its
critical mission for years, and am
incredibly moved to be able to present
our design for its new headquarters
– a place that will welcome,
teach and inspire visitors from
around the world.”
Lin partnered with Ralph Appelbaum
Associates, one of the
world’s leading museum design
firms. This project is the first
collaboration between the two
world-renowned firms.
“Long a vital touchstone for the
story of the Chinese American experience,
this new nationally oriented
addition to New York’s cultural offerings
will reveal a dramatic narrative
of determination and persistence
in becoming American,”
said Ralph Appelbaum, Founder of
Ralph Appelbaum Associates.
MOCA’s new facility is set to
open in 2025 to allow the organization
to continue to engage audiences
in an ongoing and historical dialogue,
in which people of all backgrounds
can see American history
from a critical perspective, reflect
on their own experiences and make
meaningful connections.
FIT teams up with Rentbrella for art show focused on sustainability
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
An art installation at the
Fashion Institute of Technology
(FIT) focuses on
sustainability.
Entitled “Under The Umbrella,”
this exhibition is a curriculumbased
project created by professors
Anne Kong’s and Glenn
Sokoli’s Visual Presentation
and Exhibition Design students.
Working in collaboration with
Rentbrella, an umbrella sharing
company, the exhibition calls on
the public to consider topics such
as recycling, reusing and lifestyles
that support sustainability.
With help from Rentbrella, the
exhibition utilizes 400 umbrellas
to highlight a sustainable solution
to eliminate tons of umbrellas
from reaching landfills each year.
Rentbrella currently has 35 umbrella
sharing stations installed
throughout Manhattan, allowing
users to access an umbrella for a
free 24-hour period. The sharing
stations are located within office
buildings in partnership with
companies including Wework,
Braun Management, Moinian
Group, Tishman Speyer, Beacon
Capital, Chetrit Group, Meringoff
Properties, Feldman Realty Group
and CIM, and Rentbrella plans to
expand to over 300 locations in
New York City by 2022.
Thanks to Rentbrella’s commitment
to sustainable living and
the reduction of pollution, each
umbrella is both rain and sun resistant
and was developed specifically
for New York’s climate. The
umbrellas are made of fabric made
from recycled PET bottles, stateof
the-art hydrophobic material
that features UV protection capabilities
and fiberglass, and at the
end of its cycle, the umbrellas are
reused in new products.
“Under The Umbrella” is currently
on display at FIT, located at
West 27th Street between 7th and
8th Avenues, through April 11. The
exhibition is free to the public and
open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
MUSEUM OF CHINESE IN AMERICA/ © 2022 MAYA LIN STUDIO WITH BIALOSKY NEW YORK
A rendering of the new Museum of Chinese in America
PHOTO COURTESY OF RENTBRELLA