Out of Africa, Hello Harlem
The [Museum of African Art ]has been without a homebeginning in the UES, moving to Soho, now in temporary space in Long Island City, Queensfor years, but yesterday Bloomberg announced that the only independent museum in the United States dedicated solely to African art would set up shop in Harlem. Yep, the spot, located between 109th & 110th Sts on Fifth Avenue and overlooking Central Park, is already being called the [gateway to Harlem](http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2007a%2Fpr045-07.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1). Unfortunately the plans of the new cultural center, the first new construction of a museum on [Museum Mile](http://www.ny.com/museums/mile.html) since the great Guggenheim opened in 1959 arent much to get excited over.
The renderings unveiled show a boring collection of buildings that look like a nice, suburban bank developmentexcept for the quirky window treatments. But thats to be expected from a firm like [Robert A.M. Stern Architects]. Whereas Frankie gave us the distinctive structure that put the Gugg in every architecture book in existence, Stern (who is currently the dean of the Yale School of Architecture) is better known for his traditional, [safe buildings](http://www.prosecutethepresentstudy.com/?p=26). But, hey, it makes sense: Instead of going for a distinctive design that could attract all those cultural consumers, lets hire an old white guy to give us corporate architecture. Perhaps thats better than getting all tribal or ethnicsure that will be left to the interior. In fact, there is an ode to the continent already planned for the lobby where a wall of [etimoe wood](http://www.hobbithouseinc.com/personal/woodpics/etimoe.htm) from Ghana curves upward to form the ceiling.
What with the $80 million price tag ($49 million already raised, 12 of it forked over by the city) and the proposed design, we should have guessed developers were involved. Thats right: 115 luxury condominiums will be built in a tower above the museum, under a partnership between the museum and two developers, [Brickman] and [Sidney Fetner Associates](http://www.nybits.com/managers/sidney_fetner.html). Smart move, itll help attract all those folks looking to creep further up into the Harlem-zone.