Warehouse For Art

Walking down the Manhattan meatpacking district, I passed by a big warehouse with full height storefronts. To my surprise, I saw an array of beautiful and colorful shipping containers inside, so I couldn’t resist walking in.

I found out that the 19th-century warehouse is owned by The Bohen Foundation: a non-profit organization whose mission is the commissioning of new works of art with an emphasis on film, video, new media, and installation. The foundation has exhibitions in MoMA, Guggenheim and other important modern art museums.

The main floor was transformed into a unique art gallery and, right when I walked in, the team of LOT-EK Architecture was working on cutting, painting and beautifying the containers. They were nice enough to let me take these pictures. The architects designed not only the containers but the entire main floor, incorporating their trademark shipping containers, painted bright red with a punch of blue.

The only three containers I was able to see, some cut away, some with Plexiglas serve as an office, a library and I couldn’t figure out what the third one was since it was still under construction. The coolest thing is that each of the containers rests on tracks that allow them to move back and forth like railroad cars.

Thank you to the lady who let me in to take these nice photos.