New Museum's OMA Expansion Doubles Space, Opens with Restaurant and AI Art

The New Museum in New York has reopened its expanded campus, featuring a new building designed by OMA that doubles its gallery space to over 1,800 square meters. The project, led by OMA partner Shohei Shigematsu in collaboration with Rem Koolhaas, was completed after delays caused by Covid-19 and harsh winter weather. The new building, which opened in mid-March 2026, complements the original SANAA-designed structure (2007) and includes a ground-floor restaurant called Oberon, which opened in July, featuring designs by artist Minjae Kim and an interactive AI video by Ian Cheng. The expansion also includes New Inc., the museum's incubator for art and technology, and new public spaces. Notable commissions include Sarah Lucas's sculpture 'VENUS VICTORIA' (2026) and Klára Hosnedlová's installation 'Shelter' (2026). The project is part of a wave of museum renovations in New York, including the Frick Collection, The Met's Rockefeller Wing, and the Studio Museum in Harlem. The museum's history includes the 2008 purchase of 231 Bowery, which hosted the 2011 OMA exhibition 'Cronocaos.' The new building features a triangular cutaway plaza, improved circulation, and a green-tinted homage to the original building's freight elevator. Shigematsu emphasized that the new building is 'part of a pair' with the existing one, not an annex. The project marks OMA's first new public building in Manhattan dedicated to art and community.