An open letter to the Museum of Modern Art

The Architectural League calls on the Museum of Modern Art to reconsider its decision to demolish the American Folk Art Museum. The Museum of Modern Art—the first museum with a permanent curatorial department of architecture and design—should provide more information about why it considers it necessary to tear down this significant work of contemporary architecture. The public has a substantial and legitimate interest in this decision, and the Museum of Modern Art has not yet offered a compelling justification for the cultural and environmental waste of destroying this much-admired, highly distinctive twelve-year-old building.

Annabelle Selldorf, President
Rosalie Genevro, Executive Director

Amale Andraos
Stella Betts
Michael Bierut
Vishaan Chakrabarti
Walter Chatham
Leslie Gill
Maxine Griffith
Frances Halsband
Hugh Hardy
Steven Holl
Wendy Evans Joseph
Rachel Judlowe
Paul Lewis
Frank Lupo
Thom Mayne
Richard Meier
Joseph Mizzi
Peter Mullan
Nat Oppenheimer
Gregg Pasquarelli
Mahadev Raman
Lyn Rice
Mark Robbins
Susan Rodriguez
Ken Smith
Michael Sorkin
Karen Stein
Suzanne Stephens
Robert A.M. Stern
Calvin Tsao
Tucker Viemeister
Massimo Vignelli
Claire Weisz