There has been a Skyscraper Museum in Lower Manhatttan since 1996, although it seemed to never be in the same place. In 1999 they held an exhibit about the Empire State Building. In 2000 they held an exhibit of tall buildings, including original, deteriorating World Trade Center and World Financial Center models. In 2001 (in a different location) they held an exhibit about the new Times Square towers. In 2002 and 2003 they kept up with the times and created the information panels that hang outside the viewing wall surrounding the World Trade Center site. Finally in 2004 they opened up in a new permanent home in Battery Park City in a time when everyone suddenly cares about architecture and high rise construction.

The museum is located on Battery Place, across the street from Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park and steps away from the Battery. It is at street level in a new Ritz Carlton Hotel, on the quiet side with no visible markers or signs. As it stands now, it seems highly unlikely to attract anyone not specifically looking for it, and may even deter some of those who are.

The spaces were designed (pro bono) by Roger Duffy of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. The gallery features highly reflective floors and ceiling. Columns and display cases are painted solid white, creating an funhouse effect of endless boxy towers. The entire space is unfortunately rather small and does not appear to be especially flexible. It is hard to imagine exhibits like the LMDC's in the Winter Garden being successfully displayed in such a constricted space.

The opening exhibit "Building a Collection" unfortunately shows the weaknesses of the space and the collection. There are a few artifacts from Manhattan's earlier skyscrapers and some presentation boards and renderings of new buildings. There are a few models hiding in the two sided display cases, including a structural analysis of KPF's World Financial Center in Shanghai and study models for SOM's WTC 1/Freedom Tower. The truth is that the only reason to go to an architectural exhibit is to see models, renderings and sections can be conveyed just as easily in books. The layout of the space limits models to the insides of solid columns with two glass sides. Successfully displayed models need to be seen from multiple angles, it is the purpose of a model. The current setup hides the models from view and then limits your experience.

To be fair, an exhibit called "Building a Collection" obviously realizes that they are just starting to develop and find their new, permanent voice. It is currently a great time for big name architects in New York, with Renzo Piano, Norman Foster, Frank Gehry, I.M. Pei, Enrique Norton, Jean Nouvel and Santiago Calatrava all currently designing or building skyscrapers in Manhattan. Hopefully the collection will grow and stage important exhibits, but now after just seeing a few renderings and a shiny floor it's hard to imagine feeling like your 5 USD admission was worth it.

Skyscraper Museum
39 Battery Place
New York City, United States
Online at www.skyscraper.org