The Whitney Museum of American Art is a well-known NYC institution. In its 89 years of existence, it has known many incarnations, the latest of which is a purpose-built building in New York's Chelsea neighbourhood, designed by RPBW.
While it is an imposing building, it is certainly not out of scale in a city like New York. It is noticeable yet does not scream for attention and plays nice with the surrounding meatpacking district, a formerly industrial, gritty and derelict neighbourhood that has experienced a renaissance in the last decade or so. It doesn't hurt that it's adjacent to the southern end of the High Line, another fantastic NYC insta-landmark.
It is inside the museum that one can experience what truly meaningful architecture is like. This is a building dedicated to the showing of art and as such, it is designed to take a backstage to art and the multitude of other activities that unfold in it. While very nicely built and rife with clever detailing (my favourite is the lighting in the main staircase - see picture), the building is a very effective background for life's many activities. In typical Piano fashion, it is a very simple, yet elegant building that does what it's supposed to do very well.
Compared to -ahem- more showy institutions that have come about around the same time, it is of very high calibre and one of the best museum building to come about in recent years.
Pro-tip: if you visit, be sure to check out all the vistas from the multitude of outdoor terraces, the glazed staircase facing the Hudson River and the well-curated museum store.
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