Gruzen Samton * IBI Group wins honorable mention in Municipal Art Society's 2012 MASterworks Awards

Gruzen Samton * IBI Group received an honorable mention in the Municipal Art Society's 2012 MASterworks Award category for Best Neighborhood Catalyst. The awards ceremony will take place on October 18 at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall. El Museo is one of the city's prominent Latino cultural institutions located in the Heckscher Building at East 104th St. on the Museum Mile. The Gruzen Samton team fulfilled its goal to create a new open and inviting public face to 5th Ave. and for the museum space within. Developed under the eye of the NYC Public Design Commission, the project won its Design Excellence award in 2004 and NYS AIA Award for Adaptive Reuse in 2011. The highlights include: * Client's new identity—placemaking with a revitalized entry plaza and space-defining canopy. * The opaque solid masonry façade replaced and relocated with an exterior glass skin to link the north and south wings of the museum. * Creation of a new lobby, museum shop, café, curatorial workspace and theater entrance. * Renovation of existing galleries to improve the viewer experience and enlarge the displays. * Conservation, preservation and relocation of historic Grueby faience tile panels. Gruzen Samton * IBI Group is an architecture, planning and interior design firm based in New York City, with an office in Alexandria, VA. The firm boasts a rich legacy of over 70 years of prominent design and planning projects, including significant projects in New York, Washington DC and world-wide. In May 2009, Gruzen Samton entered into a strategic alliance with The IBI Group, a multi-disciplinary consulting firm that currently employs over 3,000 people in over 70 offices across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia Description of photo attached: Lobby Extension with Enclosed Portico — Looking Northwest Photographer James Shanks