CLOSE AD ×

The Shed’s temporary gallery partitions don’t work, and more updates

A Complex Complex

The Shed’s temporary gallery partitions don’t work, and more updates

The Shed ahead of its opening in April. (Iwan Baan)

Nearly six months after the opening of Hudson Yards, and five after the opening of the Shed (now The Bloomberg Building), it has come to our attention that there has been a snafu at the Shed, the “new Fun Palace” designed by DS+R and Rockwell Group for New York’s Hudson Yards. Heralded as a flexible platform for performance and arts of all kinds, the movable elements such as the translucent ETFE sheath and interior walls are what give life to the $485 million complex. However, recent reports indicate that there were some hurried details in the large gallery space, and the temporary partitions do not work. The floor grid does not align with the ceiling grid, making it impossible to install the partitions as originally designed. As such, the gallery currently can’t be subdivided.

Whoops! Shoddy construction? Budget cuts? Blame the architects?

UPDATE: In a statement, Diller Scofidio + Renfro told AN, “The Shed utilizes anchors in the floor to cantilever freestanding partitions, which allows for a thinner dimension than most fixed museum walls that are typically braced from the ceiling. The same system was used successfully for The Broad museum’s gallery floors. In a few limited instances, construction deviations left the anchors slightly off center. The wall system has easily adapted to these conditions and continues to serve the Shed well. For example, Level 2 was partitioned to separate the two different performances (choral and orchestral) of Reich Richter Pärt.”

In other Shed news, on the heels of a $250,000-a-plate fundraiser for President Trump’s reelection held by CEO and chairman of The Related Companies Stephen Ross, calls to boycott The Shed have been growing. According to Hyperallergic, artists Zackary Drucker and A.L. Steiner withdrew their contribution to the Shed’s Open Call show, Rag & Bone dropped out of the Fashion Week show that would be held in the Shed, and artist Thanushka Yakupitiyage staged a “Decolonize This Place” performance on Sunday, August 25, in protest.

An installation view of different materials draped over scaffolding
Analisa Teachworth’s The Tribute Pallet, 2019 for Open Call: Group 2 in the Level 2 Gallery. (Lily Wan/Courtesy the artist)

Yakupitiyage, through a combination of remixed music, dance, and audio clips put on MigrantScape as part of Open Call and spoke out against the government’s treatments of migrants—as well as Ross’s complicity. The piece was put on on top of the concrete plaza in front of the building, which, when the ETFE envelope is rolled forward, forms the 17,000-square-foot McCourt space, the venue’s main performing area.

In more positive news, The Shed was named to TIME Magazine’s second annual list of the World’s 100 Greatest Places today, placing it in high accolades among other exemplary recent projects, such as Snøhetta’s underwater restaurant and a suite of refined museums.

CLOSE AD ×