Editing Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (section)

== Architecture ==
Wright's design for the Guggenheim Museum incorporated geometric motifs, such as squares, circles, rectangles, triangles and [[Lozenge (shape)|lozenges]]. The [[massing]] contains two spiraling structures, the six-story main gallery to the south and the smaller "monitor" to the north, which are connected by a "bridge" on the second story. The ten-story rectangular annex, to the northeast, appears behind the spiraling structures as viewed from Central Park.<ref name=NPS3>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|pp=3–4}}</ref>

The building embodies Wright's attempts "to render the inherent plasticity of organic forms in architecture".{{sfn|Levine|1996|p=340}} Wright's design included details inspired by nature,<ref name=Ballon/> although it also expresses his take on modernist architecture's rigid geometry.{{sfn|Levine|1996|p=301}} Wright described a symbolic meaning to the building's shapes: "[T]hese geometric forms suggest certain human ideas, moods, sentiments – as for instance: the circle, infinity; the triangle, structural unity; the spiral, organic progress; the square, integrity."<ref>Rudenstine, Angelica Zander. ''The Guggenheim Museum Collection: Paintings, 1880–1945'', New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 1976, p. 204</ref> Forms echo one another throughout: oval-shaped columns, for example, reiterate the geometry of the fountain. Circularity is the leitmotif, from the main gallery to the inlays in the museum's [[terrazzo]] floors.<ref name=Ballon/>

=== Exterior ===
Wright originally wanted to construct a marble facade,<ref name=Sennott572/><ref name="McCarter pp. 315, 318">{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|pp=315, 318|ps=.}}</ref> but builder George N. Cohen constructed the facade of [[Shotcrete#Shotcrete vs. gunite|gunite]], a type of sprayed concrete, as a cost-cutting measure.<ref name="nyt-1991-08-122" /> Wright's and Cohen's names appear on a tile placed along the building's exterior; this is likely the only time when Wright and a builder shared credit for a building's construction.<ref name="nyt-1991-08-122" /><ref name=Waldek2019>{{cite web |last=Waldek |first=Stefanie |date=November 11, 2019 |title=7 Things You Didn't Know About New York City's Guggenheim Museum |url=https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/you-didnt-know-new-york-city-guggenheim-museum |access-date=October 7, 2022 |website=Architectural Digest}}</ref> Wright had also proposed a red-colored exterior, which was never realized.<ref name=McCarter310/><ref>Bianchini, Riccardo. [https://www.inexhibit.com/case-studies/the-guggenheim-museum-an-american-revolution "The Guggenheim, an American revolution"], inexhibit.com, 2014, accessed July 5, 2014.</ref><ref name=Waldek2019/> Instead, the facade was covered in an ivory-colored coating of vinyl plastic,<ref name=NPS4>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=4}}</ref><ref name="The New York Times 1958">{{cite news |date=October 19, 1958 |title=Guggenheim Museum Gets a Plastic Coating |page=R11 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|114449638}}}}</ref> known as a "cocoon".<ref name="The New York Times 1958" /><ref name="Cohen 1958">{{cite news |last=Cohen |first=George N. |date=November 23, 1958 |title=All Concrete-- With a Glass Dome: The Guggenheim Museum: A Spiral Ramp Around a Big Inner Court |page=I1 |work=New York Herald Tribune |issn=1941-0646 |id={{ProQuest|1324046736}}}}</ref> The engineers involved in the original construction thought that the "cocoon" would not crack, so the facade was built without [[expansion joint]]s; they were wrong: the facade cracked in subsequent years.<ref name=AR2006Feb/> During subsequent renovations, conservators found that the facade was originally painted brownish yellow, which was covered with numerous coats of white or off-white paint over the years.<ref name=Waldek2019/>

The sidewalk in front of the museum acts as a [[Courtyard|forecourt]], with metal circles inset into its surface, similar in design to the floor inside the museum. Next to the sidewalk are curving parapets that surround planting beds, some of which are below ground level.<ref name=NYCL10>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=10}}</ref><ref name=NPS7>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=7}}</ref> The planting beds originally contained shrubs, sycamore trees and other vegetation.<ref name="nyt-1959-05-27">{{Cite news |date=May 27, 1959 |title=Trees and Shrubs Soon to Flank Guggenheim Museum |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1959/05/27/archives/trees-and-shrubs-soon-to-flank-guggenheim-museum.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==== Original building ====
{{Multiple image
| direction         = vertical
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| image1            = 5 Av Sep 2022 137.jpg
| caption1          = Main entrance on Fifth Avenue
| image2            = 5 Av Sep 2022 133.jpg
| caption2          = Ramp at the building's southwest corner
| image3            = 5 Av Sep 2022 145.jpg
| caption3          = Close-up of the monitor/Thannhauser Collection wing
}}

The museum's main entrance is at the center of the Fifth Avenue facade.<ref name=NYCL10 /><ref name=NPS6/> It consists of an aluminum-framed glass wall with several doors, recessed within a low foyer. A doorway directly in front of the entrance leads to the bookstore, while the museum galleries are accessed by doors to the right.<ref name=NYCL10/><ref name=NPS6>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=6}}</ref><ref name=McCarter311>{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|p=311|ps=.}}</ref> Above the main entrance is a "bridge" connecting the main gallery and monitor building, which is supported by several lozenge-shaped [[Pier (architecture)|piers]].<ref name=NPS6/> The underside of the bridge contains recessed lighting that illuminates the main entrance.<ref name=NYCL10/><ref name=NPS6/> The main entrance was originally the entrance to a driveway that curved toward 89th Street, with separate entrances to the monitor and main gallery.<ref name=McCarter308/><ref name=NPS6/> The glass wall was installed after the driveway was closed in the 1970s, and the museum's bookstore was placed directly behind the wall.<ref name="NYCL pp. 12–13">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|pp=12–13}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|pp=6–7}}</ref> To the south of the main entrance is a curved wall, which forms the base of the main gallery.<ref name="NYCL pp. 10–11">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|pp=10–11}}</ref> There is a ramp adjacent to this wall, which leads to the basement auditorium.<ref name=NPS7/><ref name="NYCL pp. 10–11" />

At the southeast corner of the museum, on 88th Street, is a rectangular structure, which contains no openings except for five circular portals at ground level.<ref name=NPS6/><ref name=NYCL11>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission|1990|ps=.|p=11}}</ref> The structure contains the museum's cafe, which was part of Wright's original plans but was not developed until 1992. The second floor of the rectangular structure contains the High Gallery.<ref name=NPS6/> Immediately to the east, on 88th Street, is an aluminum service gate with circular designs.<ref name=NPS6/><ref name=NYCL11/>

The bridge, which carries the Guggenheim's second story, projects at the museum's southwest corner. The museum's name stretches along the bottom edge of the bridge's Fifth Avenue facade.<ref name=NPS7/> The main gallery rises above the southern part of the bridge; it consists of a "bowl"-shaped massing, with several concrete "bands" separated by recessed aluminum skylights.<ref name=NYCL11/> From the street, the building looks like a white ribbon curled into a cylindrical stack, wider at the top than the bottom, displaying nearly all curved surfaces. Its appearance is in sharp contrast to the typically rectangular Manhattan buildings that surround it, a fact relished by Wright, who claimed that his museum would make the nearby [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] "look like a Protestant barn".<ref name=time/> At the top of the "bowl" is a [[parapet]], which surrounds three smaller skylights, as well as the large twelve-sided dome atop the main gallery.<ref name=NYCL11/>

The northern part of the bridge contains a four-story wing, originally known as the monitor. Although the monitor's interior is cylindrical, its exterior contains different materials and shapes on each story.<ref name=NPS5/> The monitor's first two stories contain a round concrete facade,<ref name=NPS5>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=5}}</ref><ref name=AR190>{{harvnb|Architectural Record|1958|ps=.|p=190}}</ref> while the upper two stories are cantilevered outward from the monitor's core.<ref name=AR190/> The third story contains rectangular aluminum windows with semicircular panes at their tops.<ref name=NYCL11/> The fourth story contains a square terrace and additional windows.<ref name=NYCL11/><ref name=NPS5/> Above the fourth story is a [[fascia]] with lozenge patterns, as well as a hexagonal roof with an aluminum frame. The roof is interrupted by a lozenge-shaped shaft, which contains a stairway.<ref name=NYCL11/><ref>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|pp=5–6}}</ref>

==== Annex ====
A ten-story tower at the museum's northeastern corner, with offices, artist's studios and apartments, included in Wright's 1951 plan for the museum, was a rectangular structure, aligned on a north–south axis; it would have contained porches at each story on the northern and southern elevations.<ref name=NPS7/> Wright's original plan for the tower went unrealized, largely for financial reasons, until the 1990–1992 renovation and expansion.<ref name=GSwebsite>{{cite web |title=Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum |publisher=Gwathmey Siegel Kaufman Architects |date=August 15, 2013 |url=https://www.gwathmey-siegel.com/2013/08/solomon-r-guggenheim-museum-2/ |access-date=November 19, 2022}}</ref><ref name=NPS8>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=8}}</ref><ref name=ArchDaily>Perez, Adelyn. [http://www.archdaily.com/60392/ad-classics-solomon-r-guggenheim-museum-frank-lloyd-wright/ "AD Classics: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum"], May 18, 2010. Retrieved March 21, 2012.</ref> Instead [[William Wesley Peters]] designed a shorter wing on the site in 1968, with two double-height floors. This wing was made of concrete, with [[relief]] carvings of squares and octagons on its facade, and housed the museum's library, storage space and the Thannhauser Gallery.<ref name=NYCL12/><ref name="NPS pp. 7–8">{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|pp=7–8}}</ref> Its steel framework could accommodate the weight of six additional stories if it were expanded.<ref name=Pfeiffer37/><ref name="NPS pp. 7–8"/>

Gwathmey Siegel & Associates designed a 10-story annex that was built during the 1990s renovation.<ref name=GSwebsite/><ref name=NPS8/> The annex, measuring {{convert|32|ft}} wide and {{convert|135|ft}} tall, uses the 1968 wing's steel framework.<ref name=NPS8/> During the renovation, Gwathmey Siegel removed the 1968 concrete facade and replaced it with a limestone grid.<ref name=ArchDaily/><ref name=NPS8/> They analyzed Wright's original sketches when they designed the tower.<ref name="Kimball 1992"/><ref name=ArchDaily/>

=== Interior ===
The core part of Guggenheim's interior consists of the monitor section to the north, the larger main gallery to the south and a lecture hall beneath the main gallery.<ref>{{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|pp=35–36}}</ref><ref name=AR186>{{harvnb|Architectural Record|1958|ps=.|p=186}}</ref> To the east of the main entrance is the bookstore, in the area that was originally part of the museum's driveway.<ref name="NYCLint12-NPS7">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|p=12}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=7}}</ref> To the south of the main entrance is a small circular vestibule, which contains a floor with metal arcs and a low plaster ceiling with recessed lighting.<ref name=NYCLint12>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|ps=.|p=12}}</ref> South of the main rotunda is a cafe, added during the 1990s renovation.<ref name=Pfeiffer37/><ref name=NPS7/>

The triangular service core, at the northeast corner of the main gallery, contains an elevator and a staircase.<ref name=NPS3/><ref name=McCarter315>{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|p=315|ps=.}}</ref> The staircase wraps around the elevator, which is housed within a semicircular shaft;<ref name=McCarter315/><ref name=AR188>{{harvnb|Architectural Record|1958|ps=.|p=188}}</ref> the core also contains restrooms and mechanical areas.<ref name=AR188/> According to author Robert McCarter, Wright had used "complete geometries" for the stairs and ramps because he wanted visitors to experience the museum on foot.<ref name=McCarter315/> Other rooms, such as the staff kitchen, were designed with curved equipment because of the interior's unusual design.<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 15, 1961 |title=Museum Kitchen Built on a Curve; Designer Coped With Spiral Plan of Guggenheim in Installing Equipment |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1961/01/15/archives/museum-kitchen-built-on-a-curve-designer-coped-with-spiral-plan-of.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The museum's interior is generally painted white, and parts of the interior are repainted nearly every day.<ref name=Waldek2019/>

==== Main gallery ====
[[File:Solomon-R-Guggenheim-Museum-Levels.jpg|thumb|287px|left|The museum's main gallery]]
Wright designed the main gallery (also described as a rotunda) as an open-air atrium, surrounded by a helical ramp.<ref name=time/><ref name="NYCLint12-NPS4">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|p=12}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=4}}</ref> Wright's design differed from the conventional approach to museum layout, in which visitors pass through a series of interconnected rooms and retrace their steps when exiting.{{sfn|Levine|1996|p=340}} Under Wright's plan, guests rode an elevator to the top of the building and descended the ramp, viewing the main gallery itself as a work of art.<ref name=ArchDaily/><ref name=McCarter315/> The ramp's design recalled a [[nautilus]] shell, with continuous spaces flowing one into another.{{sfn|Levine|1996|p=301}}<ref>{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|pp=310–311|ps=.}}</ref> The open rotunda allows guests to observe works on different levels simultaneously and interact with guests on other levels.<ref name=ArchDaily/> Structurally, the ramp acts like an enormous arch, preventing the columns in the main gallery from collapsing inward.<ref name=AR190/>

The main gallery has a beige terrazzo floor with inlaid metal circles.<ref name="McCarter pp. 315, 318"/><ref name=NYCLint13/> At ground level are wooden information and admissions desks, and windows face southeast toward Fifth Avenue and 88th Street.<ref name=NYCLint13>{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|ps=.|p=13}}</ref> The ramp, made of [[reinforced concrete]], ascends at a 5 percent slope<ref name=Stern816/><ref name=NPS4/> from ground level and rises one story, where it wraps around a planter and passes through a double-height archway.<ref name=NYCLint13/> It rises five additional stories before ending at the sixth floor,<ref name=Stern816/><ref name="NYCLint13-NPS4">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|p=13}}; {{harvnb|National Park Service|2005|ps=.|p=4}}</ref> with a total length of {{convert|1416|ft}}.<ref name=Waldek2019/> Its width increases as it ascends,<ref name=AR185>{{harvnb|Architectural Record|1958|ps=.|p=185}}</ref> from {{convert|25|ft}} on the lowest level to {{convert|32|ft}} at the top.<ref name=NPS4/> The ramp protrudes into the northeastern corner of the atrium at each story, forming a rounded balcony.<ref name=NYCLint12/> There are connections to other galleries at the second and fourth stories, and to a triangular gallery at the sixth story.<ref name=NYCLint13/> The ramp has a low parapet along the atrium side,<ref name=McCarter318>{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|p=318|ps=.}}</ref> measuring {{Convert|36|in}} high.<ref name=Waldek2019/>

The walls and ceilings are made of plaster.<ref name=NYCLint13/><ref name="McCarter318" /> To create the concrete walls, workers sprayed several layers of concrete onto plywood moldings, each layer being reinforced with steel.<ref name=NPS4/><ref name="Cohen 1958"/> Wright intended the low ceilings and slanted walls to provide a "more intimate environment" to display the artwork.<ref name=Pfeiffer7>{{harvnb|Pfeiffer|1995|ps=.|p=7}}</ref> The walls are tilted at a 97-degree angle, and the ceilings measure {{Convert|9.5|ft}} tall.<ref name=Stern811/><ref name=NPS4/> [[Jaroslav Josef Polívka]] assisted Wright with the structural design, and he initially designed the gallery ramp without perimeter columns.<ref>[[Jaroslav Josef Polívka|Jaroslav J. Polívka]], "What it's Like to Work with Wright" in {{cite book |title=Engineering the Organic: The Partnership of Jaroslav J. Polivka and Frank Lloyd Wright |publisher=State University of New York |year=2000 |editor=Tejada, Susana |location=Buffalo |pages=34–35}}</ref> Later in the design, Wright added a dozen concrete ribs along the walls of the main gallery, which both provide structural reinforcement and divide the ramp into sections.<ref name="NYCLint12-NPS4" /><ref name=McCarter312>{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|p=312|ps=.}}</ref> The ramp passes through 70 sections in total.<ref name=NPS4/> Although Wright wanted the paintings displayed as if they were on an easel,<ref name=time/><ref name=AR185/> paintings are mounted onto horizontal bars that protrude from the sloped wall.<ref name=Stern818>{{harvnb|Stern|Mellins|Fishman|1995|ps=.|p=818}}</ref><ref name="Wood 1959">{{cite news |last=Wood |first=Francis |date=October 21, 1959 |title=Art Is Given a New Look At Guggenheim Museum |page=1 |work=Newsday |id={{ProQuest|898250168}}}}</ref> There is limited space for sculptures within each bay,<ref name=time/> and wider paintings frequently span the center of the curved wall.<ref name="nyt-1977-06-02">{{Cite news |last=Goldberger |first=Paul |date=June 2, 1977 |title=Design Notebook |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/06/02/archives/design-notebook-a-possible-truce-at-the-guggenheim.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The ramp was originally illuminated by [[clerestory]] windows along the perimeter of each level,<ref name=McCarter312/> which were sealed when the building was completed.<ref name=McCarter315/><ref name=Stern818/> Each level of the ramp also contains recessed lighting on its ceiling.<ref name=McCarter315/><ref name=NYCLint12/> The domed skylight, named the Lawson-Johnston Family Oculus,<ref>{{cite press release |title=Guggenheim Museum Announces Naming of the Oculus, the Iconic Skylight over the Museum's Open Rotunda |website=The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation |date=June 22, 2023 |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/press-release/guggenheim-museum-announces-naming-of-the-oculus-the-iconic-skylight-over-the-museums-open-rotunda |access-date=September 21, 2023}}</ref> is around {{convert|95|ft}} high<ref name="Wood 1959" /><ref name="Mark 1959">{{Cite magazine |last=Mark |first=Phyllis |date=November 9, 1959 |title=Conflict Between Form and Function In Wright's New Guggenheim Museum |volume=42 |issue=41 |page=27 |id={{proQuest|1308964071}} |magazine=New Leader}}</ref> and is the same width as the atrium.<ref name=McCarter311/> Metal bars divide the skylight into numerous panes. Along the dome are six hairpin-shaped "spokes", which surround a circular glass panel and connect with the "ribs" along the gallery's perimeter.<ref name="NYCLint12" /><ref>{{cite magazine |date=Jul 1959 |title=Guggenheim Museum Spirals Toward Completion |url=https://usmodernist.org/PA/PA-1959-07.pdf |magazine=Progressive Architecture |volume=40 |page= |pages=75, 77}}</ref> These spokes divide the skylight into twelve sections.<ref name=McCarter312/><ref name=NYCLint12/> The original plans called for the dome to be illuminated by 24 floodlights.<ref name="Cohen 1958"/> The clerestory windows and skylight were restored in 1992.<ref name=Sennott572/><ref name=McCarter319>{{harvnb|McCarter|1997|p=319|ps=.}}</ref>

==== Monitor section ====
The museum's "monitor" houses the Thannhauser Collection.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wright's Living Organism: The Evolution of the Guggenheim Museum |website=The Guggenheim Museums and Foundation |date=October 3, 2022 |url=https://www.guggenheim.org/blogs/checklist/wrights-living-organism-the-evolution-of-the-guggenheim-museum |access-date=October 3, 2022}}</ref> Its galleries surround an atrium that is circular except for a stair hall at one end of the space.<ref name=NYCLint13/> The floors are supported by columns with lozenge-shaped cross-sections.<ref name=NYCLint13 /><ref name=AR189>{{harvnb|Architectural Record|1958|ps=.|p=189}}</ref> Like the main gallery, the monitor contains a triangular service core, although its core is placed at the center of the structure.<ref name=AR189/> The monitor was originally supposed to include apartments for Rebay and Guggenheim, but this area became offices and storage space.{{sfn|Levine|1996|p=317}} In 1965, the second floor of the monitor was renovated to display some of the museum's growing permanent collection.<ref name=NPS6/>{{sfn|Ballon|2009|pp=59–61}} Part of the fourth floor was similarly converted in 1980.<ref name=NPS6/> With the restoration of the museum in the early 1990s, the second through fourth floors were converted entirely to exhibition space and renamed the Thannhauser Building.<ref name=Pfeiffer37/><ref name=NPS6/>{{sfn|Ballon|2009|pp=59–61}}

==== Gail May Engelberg Center for Arts Education ====
[[File:Gugenheim theater from back jeh.jpg|thumb|Peter B. Lewis Theater]]
The Gail May Engelberg Center for Arts Education, completed in 2001, covers {{convert|8200|sqft}} on the lower level of the museum, below the main gallery.<ref name=Tu2002/> It was a gift of the [[Mortimer Sackler|Mortimer D. Sackler]] family and was originally named for them.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weber |first1=Bruce |date=March 31, 2010 |title=Mortimer D. Sackler, Arts Patron, Dies at 93 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/01/business/01sackler.html?_r=0 |access-date=July 17, 2014 |postscript=none}}; {{cite news |date=December 12, 1995 |title=Museum gets gift for arts education |page=2E |work=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |agency=New York Times News Service |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1683&dat=19951212&id=6mkaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6896,926560 |access-date=August 22, 2014 |postscript=none}}; and {{cite web |title=Kim Kanatani Will Occupy Newly Created Gail Engelberg Chair in Education |url=http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/press-room/releases/press-release-archive/2001/688-march-12-new-director-of-education |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726183308/http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/press-room/releases/press-release-archive/2001/688-march-12-new-director-of-education |archive-date=July 26, 2014 |access-date=July 17, 2014 |website=The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation |format=Press release}}</ref> The facility provides classes and lectures about the visual and performing arts and opportunities to interact with the museum's collections and special exhibitions through its labs, exhibition spaces, conference rooms and 266-seat Peter B. Lewis Theater.<ref name=Sackler>[http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/sackler-center "Sackler Center for Arts Education"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140209061825/http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/education/sackler-center|date=February 9, 2014}}, The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. Retrieved March 21, 2012.</ref><ref name=Tu2002/> Following criticism over the Sackler family's involvement in the [[opioid epidemic in the United States]],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Small |first=Zachary |date=May 10, 2022 |title=Guggenheim Removes Sackler Name Over Ties to Opioid Crisis |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/10/arts/design/guggenheim-sackler-name-opioids.html |access-date=October 3, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=May 10, 2022 |title=Guggenheim Museum Quietly Removes Sackler Name |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a39957945/guggenheim-museum-removes-sackler-name/ |access-date=October 3, 2022 |website=Town & Country}}</ref> the center was renamed in 2022 for museum trustee Gail May Engelberg,<ref name=Block2022>{{cite web |last=Block |first=Fang |title=The Guggenheim's Center for Arts Education Renamed After a $15 Million Donation |website=Barron's |date=July 21, 2022 |url=https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-guggenheims-center-for-arts-education-renamed-after-a-15-million-donation-01658439391 |access-date=November 19, 2022}}</ref> who along with her husband Alfred Engelberg had donated $15 million to the museum.<ref name=Donnelly2022>{{cite web |last=Donnelly |first=Shannon |title=Palm Beach philanthropy: Gail and Alfred Engelberg commit $15 million to Guggenheim |website=Palm Beach Daily News |date=August 10, 2022 |url=https://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/story/news/2022/08/10/gail-may-engelberg-center-arts-education-and-formal-dedication-and-naming-ceremony-take-place-novemb/10214105002/ |access-date=November 19, 2022}}</ref>

The basement space looks out onto a sloped driveway outside the southwest corner of the museum.<ref name=AR186/> The Peter B. Lewis Theater is directly beneath the main gallery and contains two levels of seating: an orchestra level and a balcony. There is a coatroom at the balcony level, separated from the balcony seats by a metal partition. The southeast corner of the orchestra level contains a raised wooden stage. The theater's walls contain embedded piers, as well as semicircular window openings.<ref name="NYCL (Interior) pp. 13–14" /> The plaster ceiling contains recessed [[cove lighting]].<ref name=AR188/><ref name="NYCL (Interior) pp. 13–14">{{harvnb|Landmarks Preservation Commission Interior|1990|ps=.|pp=13–14}}</ref>  When the theater was built, it could be accessed directly from the triangular service core, as well as via the driveway outside the museum.<ref name=AR188/>

==== Annex galleries ====
The 89th Street annex contains {{convert|10290|ft2}} of additional exhibition space.<ref name="McGuigan 1992"/> There are four exhibition galleries with flat walls that are "more appropriate for the display of art".<ref name=ArchDaily/><ref name=GSwebsite/> Each of the gallery levels,<ref name=PA1992Aug>{{cite magazine |date=August 1992 |title=Guggenheim Reopens, Expanded and Renovated |url=https://usmodernist.org/PA/PA-1992-08.PDF |magazine=Progressive Architecture |volume=73 |pages=13–14}}</ref> are double-height spaces.<ref name=Pfeiffer37/><ref name=NPS8/> A loading dock is below the galleries, while two office stories and a mechanical floor are above.<ref name=PA1992Aug/> A steel-and-glass lobby connects the annex to the monitor's ground level, and ramps and passageways connect with the monitor's three upper stories.<ref name=PA1992Aug/> The annex is linked to the main gallery's stair tower at the fourth, fifth and seventh stories.<ref name=Pfeiffer37/><ref name=NPS8/> It also connects to rooftop terraces above the monitor and main gallery.<ref name="McGuigan 1992" /><ref name=PA1992Aug/>

=== Landmark designations ===
The [[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] (LPC) designated the museum building and its interior as New York City landmarks on August 14, 1990,<ref name="nyt-1990-08-19">{{Cite news |date=August 19, 1990 |title=Guggenheim Museum Is Designated a Landmark |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/19/nyregion/guggenheim-museum-is-designated-a-landmark.html |access-date=October 4, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Mangaliman |first=Jessie |date=August 17, 1990 |title=Aye Given for Museum as Landmark |pages=29 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110707735/aye-given-for-museum-as-landmarkjessie/ |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> two years after opponents of the annex's construction had asked the commission to consider such a designation.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Shepard |first=Joan |date=September 1, 1988 |title=It'll be hard look at Guggenheim as a landmark |pages=577 |work=New York Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110707495/itll-be-hard-look-at-guggenheim-as-a/ |access-date=October 4, 2022}}</ref> At the time, the Guggenheim was one of the youngest buildings to have city landmark status, having been completed 31 years earlier.<ref name=Waldek2019/> When the LPC enlarged its [[Carnegie Hill Historic District]] in 1993,<ref name="Diamonstein-Spielvogel 2011 p. 683">{{cite landmarks |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=o8ym5NeiylkC&pg=PA683 683]}}</ref><ref name="Dunlap 1994 i108">{{cite web |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=January 9, 1994 |title=Postings: Commission Expands, Carnegie Hall Historic Zone; Landmark Lobby, Larger District |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/01/09/realestate/postings-commission-expands-carnegie-hall-historic-zone-landmark-lobby-larger.html |access-date=January 26, 2024 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> the Guggenheim Museum was included in the expanded district.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://s-media.nyc.gov/agencies/lpc/lp/1834.pdf |title=Expanded Carnegie Hill Historic District |date=December 21, 1993 |publisher=[[New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission]] |access-date=January 26, 2024 |pages=72–73}}</ref>

The museum was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]]  (NRHP) on May 19, 2005,<ref name=nris/> and was designated as a [[National Historic Landmark]] on October 6, 2008.<ref name=NHL>[http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/listings/20081017.HTM "National Register of Historic Places; New Listings October 6 – October 10, 2008"], NPS.gov, October 17, 2008. Retrieved May 8, 2009.</ref> [[UNESCO]] added eight properties, including the Guggenheim, to the [[World Heritage List]] in July 2019 under the title "[[The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1496 |access-date=July 7, 2019 |publisher=UNESCO World Heritage Centre}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Tareen |first=Sophia |date=July 8, 2019 |title=Guggenheim Museum Added to UNESCO World Heritage List |work=NBC New York |url=http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Guggenheim-Museum-Added-to-UNESCO-World-Heritage-List--512323791.html |access-date=July 8, 2019}}</ref>