Lustrous metallic exterior is washed with artificial lighting from within.

Distinctive tower at 235 Bowery in New York City.

	From Martin Filler, author of "Makers of Modern Architecture."   "Today, critics trudge from one disastrous new musem to the next, struggling to evaluate meaningless design stunts that have more to do with marketing than art.....   "The shimmering two-ply exterior of the New Museum of Contemporary Art-- metal layered with an outer skin of perforated metal, which can look variously silver, gray, or off-white, depending on the time of day and the weather-- imparts a mirage-like aura when the sunlight cooperates, an effect intensified by the irregularity of the non-aligned boxes comprising the off-kilter tower.....   "Truly great architecture always transcends its stated function, sometimes in unanticipated ways. As you stand on the Bowery just north of the museum and look downtown toward the clustered spires of Lower Manhattan, it's hard not to think of this hypnotic addition to the city's skyline as a poetic meditation on America's quintessential architectural contribution, and loss."

Visit with the architects

View from the seventh floor window.

More than a stack of boxes.

For fun-- a peek into the basement men's room.

Gutsy imagination has created a buzz.

	more Martin Filler, on museums:   "These days, contemporary art museums face the dilemma of trying to anticipate what kind of spaces will be needed for unimaginable creations likely to emerge over the coming decades. The one-size-fits-all approach of hangar-like enclosures with movable partitions is no solution, as demonstrated time and again since the grand-pere of them all... the Pompidou Center.   "It is no longer taken for granted that a new museum building will embody a society's highest aspirations. Recent evidence indicates quite the contrary. It no longer seems radical to say that MoMA has been transmogrified into something like a cultural corporate headquarters."