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ASIA SOCIETY RENOVATION AND EXPANSION FACT SHEET
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2001
The Asia Society has renovated and expanded its New York headquarters to meet the increasing demand for cross cultural exchange and understanding between the peoples of the United States and Asia. The initiative aims to significantly enhance the Society's public facilities and build on the institution's forty-year record of addressing the intersection of the arts, economics, politics, and society throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Project Highlights
- An interior re-design that has doubled public and gallery spaces
- Creation of a glass-enclosed, sky-lit Garden Court with sculpture, plantings, and a café
- Enhanced entrance lobby and first floor Visitor Center
- New second and third floor museum galleries that provide greater creative flexibility
- Commission of contemporary works as permanent features of the re-design
- Masterworks from the permanent Rockefeller Collection on display at all times
- Expanded programming and events by the Society's Policy and Business and Education Divisions
- Increased performing arts programming in upgraded facilities
- A new, flexible communications technology infrastructure and a new Asian Arts Resource Center
- Expanded store with areas for readings and diverse range of design & craft items
Project Completion Date
The renovated and expanded Asia Society headquarters at 725 Park Avenue is open to the public from November 17, 2001.
Architect
The Asia Society commissioned noted New York architect Bartholomew Voorsanger for the project. Recent projects by Voorsanger & Associates Architects, PC include: The Pierpont Morgan Library Garden Court and Master Plan (1992); the New York University Center for Advanced Digital Studies (1996); The Wethersfield Carriage Museum (1996); and the Rhode Island School of Design Museum Storage (1995).
Design Logistics
The project has transformed the interior of the Society's headquarters at 725 Park Avenue, doubling public and exhibition space by reconfiguring previously existing administrative and support service areas. The re-design added approximately 10,000 square feet to the building in the form of an expanded roof top enclosure over the Garden Court, an extended service alley, and a new mechanical support area. The Asia Society headquarters were designed in 1980 by Edward Larrabee Barnes.
Asia Society Divisions
- Arts and Culture - The Asia Society presents extraordinary exhibitions of traditional and contemporary Asian art, commissions original performances, and hosts tours by Asia's most renowned dancers, musicians, artists, actors, authors, and poets. The Society is also a premiere showcase for works by the growing number of Asian American visual and performing artists.
- Policy and Business - The Society not only educates the public on political and economic developments in Asia, but also informs debate among policy-makers both in the U.S. and Asia on these critical issues. Through a wide range of meetings with world leaders, international conferences with corporate executives, and studies exploring trend-setting developments, the Asia Society helps decision-makers confront some of the world’s most pressing social and political issues.
- Education - Educational initiatives focus on improving the quality of education about Asia at the elementary and secondary levels, and provide curricular materials, services, and support for teachers and schools throughout the United States. The Society's extensive use of the latest interactive media serves as a ground-breaking model for educational outreach.
Asia Society Internet Sites and Resources
The Asia Society has created three Web sites that serve as a gateway to enormous resources of information on Asia for those with a variety of interests and backgrounds.
www.AsiaSociety.org - provides information about the Society's programs, exhibitions, and permanent
collection, as well as general background on the Society.
www.AskAsia.org - is one of the premiere resources for K-12 educators and students interested
in Asian and Asian American studies.
www.AsiaSource.org - presents interpretation of breaking news stories, analysis of trends in Asia,
guides to Asian visual and performing arts, access to country profiles, and more.
www.AsiaBusinessToday.org - provides knowledgeable, unbiased information on a range of issues including
US-Asia trade, technology developments, and global finance.
www.AsiaFood.org - online resource on Asian cuisines featuring two searchable databases of over
500 recipes and glossary terms.
History
The Asia Society was founded in 1956 by John D. Rockefeller 3rd to foster understanding between Asians and Americans. The Society has evolved in tandem with the transformation of Asian countries into major participants in global politics, economics, and the arts, and it has become the preeminent organization where America and Asia meet. Asia House, on East 64th Street in New York City, was the first home of the nonprofit, nonpolitical educational institution; the Asia Society moved to its current headquarters at 725 Park Avenue in 1981. The Society's New York home serves as the hub of an international network of Regional Centers and Offices in Hong Kong, Houston, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Australia, Shanghai, San Francisco and Manila.
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