Pretty Cool....

Redesigned Museum of the Moving Image Opens

( Article from Interior Design Magazine) HERE!

After an extensive redesign and renovation by architect Thomas Leeser, the Astoria, New York Museum of the Moving Image reopens its doors to the public this Saturday. But now the institution boasts state-of-the-art facilities for highlighting film and video, and twice as much space, totaling 97,000 square feet, thanks to a three-story addition.

“New York has long been at the center of visual media development, so it’s fitting that the nation’s only institution dedicated to its exploration continues to thrive and expand in the city,” says mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Thomas Leeser, principal of Leeser Architecture, remarks on his redesign, “One of our main goals was to allow visitors to experience their movement through the building as a kind of participation in the imaginary movement of images on the screen.” To this end, a new museum entrance metaphorically references the screen via a portal of mirrored and transparent glass, as well as play of light. Visitors pass through this screen to encounter gently canted forms that create a sense of dynamic, freeflowing spaces.

The museum’s screening areas include the 267-seat main theater, which sports wraparound ceiling and walls made of 1,135 fabric panels; a 1,700-square-foot amphitheater with built-in bench seating; and an intimate 68-seat film and digital screening room to double as an educational space. Additionally, the facility houses a new 4,100-square-foot gallery for changing exhibitions, collection storage, a dedicated education center, and the upgraded 15,000-square-foot core exhibition, “Behind the Screen,” an interactive exploration of how film and television programs are produced and promoted.