Sydness Architects designed the New York campus of Sotheby's Institute of Art, a graduate school of art set across two floors of a midtown Manhattan office tower. The institute runs graduate degrees in art business and object-based learning, so the brief called for a campus that could hold teaching, study and exhibition in one place.
The plan brings together student classrooms, commons areas, faculty and administrative offices, a library and a gallery. Across roughly 1,858 m2 (20,000 ft2) on two levels, the design keeps the crisp, contemporary character the institute wanted in both the spatial layout and the finishes. Because the school needed gallery installations that could change regularly, the team built in a range of lighting solutions to suit shifting exhibitions.
Completed in 2018.
Design by Sydness Architects (Melissa Cheing, designer; Jeff Sydness, principal). Photography by Jon Nissenbaum.