Architecture studio Snøhetta has unveiled its design for a Miami outpost of the New York City museum dedicated to “celebrating the cultural significance of human sexuality”.
The Museum of Sex will be housed in a converted warehouse space in the Allapattah neighbourhood in northwest Miami.
With 32,000 square feet (2,972 square metres) of permanent and temporary exhibitions, it will be the second location for the museum, whose flagship New York location was designed by SHoP Architects and opened in 2002.
Snøhetta “embraced the levity that characterizes Museum of Sex”
The Snøhetta-designed outpost will feature three large galleries, as well as retail spaces and a bar.
“Snøhetta’s collaboration with the Museum of Sex is rooted in positivity and joy,” said Snøhetta interior architecture discipline director Anne-Rachel Schiffmann.
“As we have pursued creating spaces that bring people together, our team embraced the levity that characterizes Museum of Sex, working to translate this perspective into a collection of interiors that embrace fun, laughter, and togetherness.”
In addition to housing the more than 20,000 artefacts and artworks that make up the museum’s permanent collection, including photographs, technology and clothing, the design also incorporates spaces for permanent and rotating exhibitions.
“The Miami location will mark the institution’s most ambitious undertaking yet,” said the Museum of Sex.
Museum to open this year with permanent and temporary exhibitions
The museum will open in 2023 with temporary exhibitions such as Modern Sex: 100 Years of Design and Decency, as well as Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama‘s Desire Machines.
It will also house permanent exhibitions, including the ongoing New York exhibition called Super Funland: Journey into the Erotic Carnival, designed by a multitude of designers and artists including fashion designer Bart Hess, artist Rebecca Purcell and American entertainer RuPaul.
In Miami, the exhibition will comprise a “multi-layered installation” that “presents an immersive ‘carnival fairground’ featuring dazzling amusements and games that play on sexual thrills, humor, and decadence” according to the museum.
It will feature 20 different interactive aspects including a 40-foot-wide “rococo style” mermaid tank.
UK-based designers Bompas & Parr – known for sensual designs such as a climbing wall with handholds shaped like genitalia – will also take part in the design of the installation.
“We are excited to reach this major milestone in our history and to bring our vision to the vibrant cultural landscape of Miami,” said Museum of Sex executive director Daniel Gluck.
“Our inaugural programming perfectly embodies our ambitions to be a thought-provoking forum around sex and sexuality, and to bring forth a unique, publicly loved and critically acclaimed cultural offering to Miami.”
Snøhetta has completed a number of high-profile projects in the United States, including a recent renovation of Philip Johnson’s AT&T Building in Manhattan, and is also set to design a shell-shaped expansion to St Louis’ Powell Hall.
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