The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

Location
New York, NY

Completion
2003

Client
Museum of Jewish Heritage

Square Footage
82,000 SF

Architect
Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo & Associates

Sciame was the Construction Manager responsible for this four-story East Wing expansion, which complements the 30,000 SF glass and light granite main building, tripling the existing space.

The 82,000-SF addition, curving around the existing building in Manhattan’s Battery Park City, houses state-of-the-art multimedia classrooms, a 370-seat theater with high quality acoustics, special exhibition galleries, and an education-resource center. In addition, the expansion provides a library, a 380-seat event hall equipped with kitchen facilities and pre-function space, administrative facilities with conference rooms and artifact conservation areas, and a Memorial Garden accessible from the second floor. Also integrated into the building is The Living History Center, which serves as an archive for the Steven Spielberg Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation.

A bridge links the original Museum building and the new East Wing. Additionally, a landscaped terrace was incorporated into the third floor.

The Museum’s core exhibition is organized around three themes:
Jewish Life a Century Ago, The War against the Jews, and Jewish Renewal. With more that 2,000 photographs, 800 artifacts, and twenty- four original documentary films on display, the Museum uses personal stories and artifacts to present 20th Century Jewish history and the Holocaust in a context of universal truths that speak to people of all ages and backgrounds. In addition to the exhibits and programming, the Museum conducts extensive educational programs for children in the tri-state area.

The East Wing was the first new construction to begin in Lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001.