Click on images at left for larger views. [Google Earth link] Renzo Piano's addition to the Morgan Library in Manhattan unites three existing buildings via a skylit atrium space. The project is comprised of a main entrance, lobby, cafe, gallery spaces, a small theater, and support spaces. Out of site but totaling the most area is underground storage for the well-known family's collection of manuscripts, marbles, and other historical artifacts. Once the visitor finds the entry -- a well-scaled but sparse facade between two of the historical structures -- and gains access to the atrium, it's apparent the design is all about the interior. Although dictated highly by the location of the existing buildings, Piano's design inserts various boxes and elements into the three-story space to create some order and manipulate views. For example, the Clare Eddy Thaw Gallery -- situated between Morgan's Study and the East Gallery (visible in the floor plan) -- breaks down the space between the two while also creating an area for browsing the digital collections and creating a visual break between the two old facades. Like many of Piano's cultural projects (the Menil Collection in Houston, the Beyeler Foundation Museum in Switzerland, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas), the Morgan Library uses a custom skylight across its roof plane. Where the past museums used the fins, scoops, or other devices to filter light into gallery spaces, here the skylight allows a great deal of light and acts as a consistent gesture across an otherwise complex space connecting the various buildings. The play of light across both the old and new structures is probably the greatest effect of the skylight design. The greatest spatial feature of the addition is perhaps unintentional, or at least an inadvertent product of its context. I'm referring to the opening up of the block's middle via a large, east-facing glass wall. Unlike places like Chicago, Manhattan is primarily devoid of alleys, meaning that a block's middle is a hidden place, visible to only certain people, such as tenants with windows to the rear. Here, the visitor is privy to a view that for many years was the bastion of the rich and powerful Morgan family. Now it is a view competes handily with Piano's interior and the existing building's he's connected.   Morgan Library Expansion in Manhattan, New York by Renzo Piano Building Workshop 2006.09.04     Click on images below for larger color views.