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David Chipperfield's Met renovation put on hold by seven years

Met Deficit

David Chipperfield's Met renovation put on hold by seven years

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York will delay the redevelopment to its southwest wing by up to seven years as the institution faces cutbacks.

The museum has slashed its budget by $31 million in recent months as it faces deficits. Work on the wing was due to be carried out by British architect David Chipperfield. It was touted to cost around $600 million with the wing housing modern and contemporary art.

Had all gone to plan, the Met would have been able to celebrate its 150th anniversary with the new wing. Construction would have taken place while the museum used the Met Breuer. According to the New York Times, the Met had not changed its position on the eight-year lease of the former Whitney Museum—something that costs the Met $17 million a year for the privilege.

Work though at the museum will continue. Skylights and a roofing system are in line to be replaced but this is only due to start in 2018, the work of which will be stretched out over four years.

“It’s logical that that’s the urgent project we pursue first,” said Thomas Campbell, the director of the Met in the New York Times. He added that the museum was “baking these long-term projects into a responsible master plan that matches our capacity with our ambition.”

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