Last updated: 1/15/2012
New York, New York
Address
39 Battery Place
New York, NY 10280
phone: 212-945-6324
fax: 212-732-3039
e-mail: info@skyscraper.org
web: www.skyscraper.org

Hours

Wednesday - Sunday 12:00 pm - 6:00 pm

Admissions

Adult $5
Students/Seniors $2.50
Kids FREE

Museum Type(s)

Staff

Emma White
phone: 212-945-6324
Carol Willis
phone:
Ian Norstad
phone:
Reynan Punzalan
phone:
e-mail:
Andrew Olson
phone:
Description

Located in New York City, the world's first and foremost vertical metropolis, The Skyscraper Museum celebrates the City's rich architectural heritage and examines the historical forces and individuals that have shaped its successive skylines. Through exhibitions, programs and publications, the Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence.

History

The Museum, now located in a permanent gallery in Lower Manhattan, inhabited four temporary spaces from 1997 to 2003. The Museum's inaugural show, DOWNTOWN NEW YORK, ran from April through December 1997 at 44 Wall Street, a vacant banking hall in New York's historic financial district. In 1998 the Museum moved to the Art Deco banking hall at 16 Wall Street, THE BANKERS TRUST BUILDING, where the Museum's second and third exhibits were mounted. BUILDING THE EMPIRE STATE ran from October 1998 through September 1999 and BIG BUILDINGS ran from October through December 1999. The Museum next staged DESIGN DEVELOPMENT: TIMES SQUARE, presenting architectural models for six new Times Square towers, which showed throughout 2000 and 2001 in a space at 110 Maiden Lane.

The Museum's gallery at 110 Maiden Lane closed on September 11th, 2001, due to its proximity to the World Trade Center disaster. Our gallery space was commandeered as an emergency information center to assist downtown businesses. From September 2001 to March 2004 the Museum was kindly provided office space at 55 Broad by Rudin Management.

In March 2004, The Skyscraper Museum opened a permanent home in a building at the southern tip of Battery Park City. The facility occupies ground-floor space in a mixed-use project that includes the Ritz-Carlton Hotel and a 38-story condominium tower. The Museum owns its space, which has been generously donated by Millennium Partners, the building's developers. The distinguished firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) is the Museum's architect, with award-winning partner Roger Duffy as lead designer. SOM is providing its services pro bono. Tishman Construction Corporation, which has been building New York since 1898, served as Construction Manager pro bono.

Artifact Collections

The Skyscraper Museum maintains a large body of original photographs, documents and artifacts related to the history and construction of skyscrapers. The Museum also developed online databases of more than 1,000 photographs of the construction of the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center towers.

Educational Programs

The Museum is dedicated to progressive museum education and offers school visits which promote object-based inquiry and active exploration of our space. Using the New York State Learning Standards as a guide, lesson plans and instructional materials are designed to be academically rigorous and promote higher-order thinking. Our staff is trained to promote close looking and critical thinking during tours tailored for the curricular needs of teachers in the NYC Public School system.

Education at the Museum also extends into the home. Saturday mornings play host to our Family Programs, when we invite families into the gallery for rotating activities exploring basic principles of architecture and engineering.
In addition, the Skyscraper Museum sends out a tool kit for teachers designed to enhance the Skyscraper Museum's exhibitions and programs. The Tower Tube's primary source materials and activity guide will help teachers prepare students for a museum tour. In addition to serving as pre and post visit materials, the Tower Tube supports classroom instruction on New York City history, skyscrapers and the development of the urban environment, and community and neighborhood exploration.

Library
Access: Staff Only
Appointment required: No
Exhibitions
Museum Events
DISCLAIMER
This information, including business hours, addresses and contact information is provided for general reference purposes only. No representation is made or warranty is given as to its content or the reliability thereof. User assumes all risk of use. Stories USA, Inc. and its content suppliers assume no responsibility for any loss or delay resulting from such use. Please call ahead to verify the dates, the location and directions.

MUSEUM CONFERENCES

Oregon Museum Association 2024 Conference

September 8, 2024 - September 10, 2025

North Bend, Oregon

2025 California Association of Museums Conference

February 18 - 22, 2025

San Fransico, California

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