Richard Meier's Model Museum, Long Island City
Richard Meier's Model Museum in Long Island City, is a small gallery devoted to the architect's ongoing love of the physical process of architecture. The 3,600 sq ft warehouse space is dominated by a vast model of the Getty Center in Los Angeles, still one of the architect's most celebrated and sizeable commissions. Rather than offload the creative output of his model-making studio - overseen by Michael Gruber - the architect has created this small private museum for a whirlwind tour of his oeuvre in miniature. We spoke to Meier about the contents of the museum, and his approach to art, architecture and urban design.
You have projects here that are built and also unrealized. Having them present in one place, what is it like visiting your own work?
I love it here. I love coming and walking around, that's why we keep it. Also, it's great for students to come so they can see what's involved in doing projects at this kind of scale. They come from all over the world and are fascinated. It's nice to be able to open it up, since we don't open the office up to tours on a regular basis.
Does it give you a retrospective of your career when you look all these models?
No, I just think, 'There's a lot of things missing.' In the back there are lots of old models of different small projects. It's interesting to me because it gives a kind of remembrance.
Does having the models here encourage new designs?
No. But we have a bin of discarded pieces of models and wood. I started looking at some of these pieces, and I was working on sculpture at the time, and I thought that I would use some of the pieces of wood and cast them and do a collage, as it were, from discarded pieces of models. So, it is kind of reuse of material. These are all cast stainless steel and you can see where the piece - a trellis or window - changes scale. I would use some string to tie the wood together and cast the whole thing.
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
How do you find the time and energy?
I do the collages on the weekends and when I travel. When it was slow I used to take one day off a week to go to the foundry and cast sculpture, but then we got busy.
What do you think of the fantastically shaped CNC-milled models that people are making today?
Well, it's different. It expresses what they're doing. We're not doing that.
How would you describe what you are doing?
I would say what we're doing is very open and transparent and related to the particular site and context. Our work has to do not only with how that building functions, but how it creates a public space. I'm very much interested in the public realm and I feel that every project should have, as much as it can, a usefulness to the public outside of the needs of the client. Our designs are modern, open, and hopefully expressive of our time.
In a recent New York Times article, Nicolai Ouroussoff wrote that your new project, the mixed-use Teachers Village in Newark, New Jersey, is a return to the early part of your career, referring to the public housing project Twin Parks in the Bronx [designed for the Urban Development Corporation of New York State in 1969]. Is the ethos reflected in that design continued in your new work?
Definitely. The Newark project is extremely important for the city of Newark. The good thing about Nicolai's piece is that it brings Newark into focus in a way that probably many people who read the article didn't previously understand. The city will be a new place where young people who work in Manhattan live, because it is only a 15-minute commute. As things improve there, hopefully the community will enliven.
And Newark's your hometown. How does it feel returning there to work?
Well, it's nice.
-
Discover Acqua di Parma’s new Mandarino di Sicilia fragrance at Milan Design Week 2024
Acqua di Parma and Fornice Objects bring the splendour of Sicilian mandarin fields to Milan to celebrate new fragrance Mandarino di Sicilia
By Simon Mills Published
-
First look at Samba Room, London’s innovative cocktail lounge packed with Brazilian energy
London’s Samba Room, an extension of SushiSamba, is a dynamic bar, lounge and private dining space designed by Fabled Studio
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Thom Browne shows how to make the perfect bed with theatrical performance at Milan Design Week 2024
American fashion designer Thom Browne makes his Milan Design Week debut with a new homeware collection created in collaboration with historic linen company Frette
By Scarlett Conlon Published
-
A Petra Island house rises from Frank Lloyd Wright's original drawings
Based on Frank Lloyd Wright drawings, the cantilevering Petra Island Massaro House, located in New York’s Hudson Valley, is now open to visitors
By Craig Kellogg Published
-
An Upper West Side apartment by General Assembly nods to its history
An Upper West Side apartment in New York, born out of the reimagining of two neighbouring units, is refreshed by General Assembly for a young family
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
New York's Leica store echoes the brand's blend of heritage and innovation
Leica store throws open its doors in New York's Meatpacking District, courtesy of Brooklyn based Format Architecture Office
By Adrian Madlener Published
-
Hudson Valley Residence is a low-lying retreat that seamlessly blends into the horizon
Designed by HGX Design, Hudson Valley Residence is a scenic home offering unobstructed views across the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York
By Tianna Williams Published
-
Boise Passive House’s bold gestures support an environmentally friendly design
Boise Passive House by Haas Architecture combines sleek, contemporary design and environmental efficiency
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
At the Hilbert Museum of California Art’s expanded home, art and architecture converge
The Hilbert Museum of California Art expands its home, courtesy of Los Angeles architecture studio Johnston Marklee
By Ellie Stathaki Published
-
Pearlman Cabin by John Lautner is an organic Californian mountain retreat
John Lautner’s midcentury Pearlman Cabin, tucked away in the Californian mountain resort of Idyllwild, is a striking example of organic architecture
By Mimi Zeiger Published
-
Albert Frey’s Aluminaire House is reborn in Palm Springs
Aluminaire House, designed by legendary modernist Albert Frey, has been reconstructed outside the Palm Springs Art Museum
By Michael Webb Published