Spyscape
In October 2017, Adjaye Associates - the architectural practice led by David Adjaye - revealed its design for a new spy museum and interactive experience in Midtown Manhattan, New York.
SPYSCAPE will allow visitors to explore the secretive world of espionage through collections of artefacts, dynamic narratives and experiences that will be individually customised.
The entrance will be through a flexible events space that unfolds beneath a dramatic and vaulted light canopy. A range of exhibition spaces will be housed within bespoke pavilions, each focusing on a separate theme of spying. The pavilions will take the form of weathered steel drums with curved panelling, and incorporate a distinctive design and material palette according to their content.
The design for the 60,000 sq. ft space has been influenced by the architectural language of spy organisations, and aims to ‘establish a small town within a building’. Spaces will continually shift the vantage point of visitors, playing with their perceptions, using lighting, screens and between-floor transparency. Partially-obscured interstitial circulation spaces will open up into immersive, fully-interactive multimedia spaces.
To achieve the appropriate aesthetic for the ‘spooks environment’, the design incorporates smoked glass, bespoke fibre cement, dark grey acoustic panelling, and mirror-polished steel.
Lucy Tilley, Associate Director for Adjaye Associates said:
“It has been exciting to work with a client as truly innovative as SPYSCAPE. Thanks to their forward-thinking vision, we have been able to challenge the traditional museum typology with a design that creates a new model of visitor experience which straddles the physical and digital worlds. SPYSCAPE will be an utterly unique cultural destination for New York City.”
SPYSCAPE was developed in collaboration with expert advisors, including former members of renowned hacking collectives and former Station Chiefs and Directors of intelligence agencies. The museum is set to open in December 2017, and will also house a café, temporary exhibition and private event spaces, and a spy book shop.
Content and images courtesy of Adjaye Associates.
[edit] Find out more
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
Featured articles and news
Mental Health Awareness Week with ABS
Architects Benevolent Society programme of activity.
CLC publishes domestic retrofit competency framework
Roadmap of Skills for net zero.
May 13-19: Moving more for our mental health.
Understanding is key to conservation.
Open industry engagement survey seeks responses
Institutions and the importance of engagement.
National Retrofit Hub unveils new guide
Digital Building Logbooks and Retrofit: An Introduction.
Top 50 firms awarded 52bn of projects in the last year
New engineering data shows.
Enhancing construction site reporting efficiency
Through digitisation and the digital revolution.
Noise in the built environment
BSRIA guide TG 20/2021.
17,000 people suffer conditions as a result of exposure to excessive noise at work.
Turning down the noise: Auditory health
A pervasive risk with far-reaching consequences.
Getting the most out of heat pumps and heating
How heat pumps work and how they work best.
Plumbing and heating for successful retrofit and renovation
Low temperature underfloor systems and heat pumps.
Cost-of-living crisis and home improvement plans
Starting on the right footing and top tips for projects.
Delays on construction projects
Types, mitigation and the acceleration of works.
From Chaucer to Fawlty Towers.
Electrotechnical excellence, now open for entries.
Net zero electricity grids BSRIA guide NZG 5/2024
Outlining the changes needed to transition to net zero.
CIOB Global Student Challenge 2024
Universitas Indonesia wins for second year running.