The design store at the Museum of Modern Art’s midtown location consists of a single-story, visually avant-garde retail facility. The design incorporates material, light and color to showcase the museum’s merchandise. The east wall of the store is faceted with a floor to ceiling grid, backlit with diffused neon lighting. Lilker incorporated the design of the new mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection distribution into the store’s detailed modern aesthetic.
The second retail extension of the Museum of Modern Art NYC is located at 81 Spring Street in the heart of SoHo. The project consisted of converting two floors within this historic landmark warehouse building into a new and visually avant-garde retail facility. The design incorporates elements of the original warehouse such as exposed brick and maple wood floors. The original cast iron columns are encased in sandblasted glass panels illuminated within by fiber-optic lighting. A translucent Barrisol membrane covers the ceiling and walls in a continuous curve, backlit by fluorescent tubes providing soft diffused lighting. A grid system in the membrane ceiling was developed to incorporate air conditioning distribution and fire protection sprinkler coverage.