I guess if there are living designers worthy of their own museum one might very well be modernist Richard Meier.
The Long Island City model museum will once again be open to visitors. This is the fourth summer that Meier has invited the public into a 3,600-square-foot space, which houses more than a hundred models spanning his 40-year career. The centerpiece of the collection is a pair of wooden mock-up of the Getty Center, the larger of which was made in 16 pieces. During client presentations, Meier pulled the model apart to explain his design process. When the Getty was finally finished, after 15 years, he couldn’t bring himself to just toss it. “We figured at the end, we might as well keep it,” Meier told a group of journalists yesterday.
We don’t really build many physical model anymore, we rely mostly on 3D Computer Models, but building a model is wonderfully satisfying experience. I think visiting Meier’s museum would be wildly inspirational.
The Richard Meier Model Model Museum is open on Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., through August. For an appointment, call Richard Meier & Partners Architects at 212-967-6060.
–Kevin Lee Allen
