Picturing Progress: Building the Future Whitney
Oct 5, 2011
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The Whitney's new building site, December 2011. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The Whitney's new building site, November 2011. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The Whitney's new building site, November 2011. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The Whitney's new building site, November 2011. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The Whitney's new building site, November 2011. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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South-facing view of the Whitney's new building site from The Standard Hotel, November 2011
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The Whitney's new building site, October 2011. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The Whitney's new building site, October 2011. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The Whitney's new building site, October 2011. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The construction team works on the first floor of the building. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The view looking up from the first floor of the building. Over the next several months, the steel will be erected for all nine stories. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The construction site as viewed from the base of the southern entrance to the High Line. The new building will feature approximately 13,000 square feet of outdoor galleries stepping back from the elevated park. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The construction crew works to erect the next floor of the Whitney’s future home, which will be a nine-story, over 200,000 square foot building. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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Cranes tower over the new building construction site, as seen from the Westside Highway. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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Another view of the bustling site from the northeast corner. Photograph by Ed Lederman
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The view from above the construction site. Photograph by Timothy Schenck
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The new building will have stunning, unobstructed views to the west. Photograph by Timothy Schenck
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Standing under the High Line, looking out at the site. Photograph by Timothy Schenck
Progress is well underway on the Whitney’s future home—in a way that everyone can see. On May 24, 2011, Mayor Michael Bloomberg presided over a groundbreaking ceremony at the building site, which is located at the corner of Washington and Gansevoort Streets; construction began soon thereafter. Since September, the team has been working on a below-grade structure, which will support the building.
Even a heavy building like the future Whitney requires a stable foundation on which to sit. The construction site lies in the Meatpacking District, an area of Manhattan, which was created by the city long ago by pouring landfill excavated from other building sites into the Hudson River. The changing water pressure from the Hudson produces tremendous force: after digging about a dozen feet into the ground, river water begins to seep out from beneath the landfill and into the construction site. To hold back this water, an underground wall is being built around the perimeter of the site. To prepare for it, the crew has been drilling long metal tubes called ‘piles’ approximately one hundred feet below the surface, which will secure the building’s foundation to the strong bedrock below.
Remember: the Museum will open to the public in 2015. Until then, follow along as we build the Future Whitney.
Whitney of the Future
Read more about the Whitney's new building, located at Washington and Gansevoort Streets in the Meatpacking District.
Watch and Listen
Learn more about the Whitney's new building in a series of videos commissioned to celebrate our past, present, and exciting future in downtown Manhattan.