A new science center at the American Museum of Natural History will open in 2023

The American Museum of Natural History has set an opening date for its long-awaited addition, the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation. The new science center will extend across 230,000 square feet and begin to welcome visitors on February 17, 2023.

The project, designed by Studio Gang, will include floor-to-ceiling exhibition galleries with 4 million scientific specimens, reading and study rooms, and a vivarium full of free-flying butterflies to inspire guests to learn more about life on Earth.

“In a time when the need for science literacy has never been more urgent, we are thrilled and proud to be nearing the long-awaited opening date for the Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation, a major new facility that will transform both the work of our museum and the cultural landscape of New York City,” said Museum President Ellen V. Futter. 

The new center will have a five-story collection facility with exhibits that discuss topics in paleontology, geology, anthropology, archaeology, and invertebrate biology. The 5,000-square-foot insectarium is another exciting new facility. The Museum invites visitors to take a look at oversized models of honeybees, walk on a sky bridge with a route for live leafcutter ants, and listen to the music of Central Park’s insects.

If you want to learn more about butterflies, head to the new Davis Family Butterfly Vivarium. Here you could walk around 80 species of free-flying butterflies and, with assistance from staff, take a closer look at them through a digital microscope. The Gilder Center would also offer a 12-minute immersive experience that invites you to become a part of all life on Earth: from building blocks of DNA to forests, oceans, and megacities. 

The Gilder Center would connect 10 existing museum buildings and create one giant space for research and scientific discovery. The additional square footage and changes to the adjacent area of Theodore Roosevelt Park aim to give visitors more agency and increase annual attendance. After the construction is completed, the Museum would also plant 22 new trees to help minimize the impact on surrounding nature. 

Resources:

“The Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation Will Open Friday, February 17, 2023,” (The American Museum of Natural History)

“Peek inside the cavernous American Museum of Natural History expansion,” by Rossilynne Skena Culgan (Time Out, 2022)

“New Images Reveal Progress of Studio Gang's Museum of Natural History Expansion in New York,” by  Dima Stouhi (ArchDaily, 2022)

“The Museum of Natural History’s New Addition Is a Giant Concrete Marshmallow,” by Justin Davidson (Curbed, 2022)

“Museum of Natural History’s New Science Center Takes Shape,” by Robin Pogrebin (The New York Times, 2022)