[NYguy]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...googlenews_wsj

Seeking to Turn Corner on Arts 'Shed'





April 2, 2013
By JENNIFER MALONEY

As the clock ticks down on Mayor Michael Bloomberg's final year in office, city officials are trying to build momentum for Culture Shed, a planned exhibition and event space in the Hudson Yards development. They have unveiled designs showing how a transparent, 125-foot-tall shell that nests around the building would roll out on tracks to envelop an 18,000 square-foot plaza adjacent to the High Line. They have secured federal tax-exempt status for a nonprofit group to run the space, and created a skeleton board of directors, whose three members include one current and one former member of the Bloomberg administration. And they have won endorsements from prominent figures in the New York art world, among them the directors of the Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Foundation.

But much remains to be done. The board has yet to estimate the cost of construction, hire staff or begin raising money. One of the reasons the project's backers don't know yet how much the Culture Shed will cost to build is that its retractable shell will be covered in a high-tech material that "has not been used very much on projects in the United States," said Ryan Max, a spokesman for the city's Department of Cultural Affairs.

"The idea here is to see a space that serves the broadest spectrum of the creative sector in New York City," said Kate Levin, the city's commissioner for cultural affairs and a member of Culture Shed's board. The project, she said, is important for "the city's capability to remain on the forefront of innovation." The other board members are Stephen Ross, chairman of Hudson Yards developer Related Companies, and Daniel Doctoroff, CEO and president of Bloomberg LP and a former deputy mayor.

The Culture Shed shell's ability to envelop—and restrict access to—a public, outdoor plaza is a sticking point for members of Manhattan's Community Board 4. The board is expected Wednesday to recommend the city planning commission deny the city's zoning application unless the city comes up with 20,000 square feet of alternative open space in the Hudson Yards development—to make up for what they see as a loss of public space.

Supporters of the project say Culture Shed would fill a void in the city's arts landscape by offering a venue for nonprofit cultural organizations and for-profit creative industries to stage large-scale exhibitions and performances that wouldn't fit elsewhere. Ms. Levin said events could range from museum exhibitions and art installations to film festivals, art auctions, galas and fashion events. Some of those events could generate income to support the Culture Shed's nonprofit arts offerings, she said.

Construction could begin by summer 2014 and be complete by the end of 2017, Ms. Levin said. The shed must be built in tandem with the platform over the West Side rail yards and a 70-story residential tower to which it will be connected. Ms. Levin said she couldn't specify how often the Culture Shed's shell would be deployed over the plaza, but suggested that the venue's suitability for a range of activities—from a farmers market or skating rink to ticketed concerts and theatrical performances—would keep it in demand. "The only purpose of building a building of this complexity is to use it," she said. She said the board hadn't determined an estimate for the construction cost in part because the design incorporates a relatively new material called ETFE, a lightweight, transparent plastic. The material was used for roof of Beijing's "Birds Nest" stadium and would form the skin of the Culture Shed's shell. It is less than 1% the weight of glass and lets in more light.

Officials from MoMA and the Guggenheim said they could envision collaborating with Culture Shed to bring an exhibition from overseas to New York, or to stage a show they couldn't present in their own museums because of size or scheduling constraints. MoMA director Glenn Lowry noted that his institution had spaces ranging up to 15,000 square feet, while Culture Shed—when its shell is extended—would offer a plaza-level, contiguous space twice that size. "It's the kind of place that one can imagine all sorts of uses for," he said.