Statue of Liberty Museum

STATUE OF LIBERTY MUSEUM, NEW YORK

The Statue of Liberty Museum was funded privately by fashion designer and philanthropist Diane von Fürstenberg, Michael Bloomberg, Jeff Bezos, Coca-Cola, NBCUniversal, the family of Laurence Tisch and Preston Robert Tisch, Mellody Hobson, and George Lucas. As of groundbreaking, Diane von Fürstenberg headed the fundraising for the museum and the project raised more than $40 million.

“She is an icon, a national treasure, and one of the most recognizable figures around the globe. Millions who cherish her ideals make the journey every year to experience her history and grandeur in person. She is Lady Liberty, a symbol of freedom, a worldwide icon inspiring hope. The Statue of Liberty Museum™ represents an exciting new chapter in Lady Liberty’s story of freedom. The museum gives millions more an opportunity to enjoy the Statue of Liberty experience … and we are relying on your support.

The Statue of Liberty Museum™ addresses three main components: Accessibility, Education, and Sustainability.” ~ Statue of Liberty Museum

The Statue of Liberty Museum’s design gives the appearance of rising up from the earth carrying with it a beautifully planted Garden Roof Assembly from American Hydrotech completed with native grasses.

“The museum’s defining gesture is the lifting of the park itself, which creates a new, naturalized habitat in place of a traditional building.

While the Statue of Liberty remains New York’s most iconic monument, the museum housed in its base had long proved inadequate for the thousands who visit each day. The new Statue of Liberty Museum, envisioned as an extension of the island’s landscape in Liberty Park, is accessible to millions of new visitors without restrictive security clearances. Its angular forms and spaces are shaped by expansive views and the irregularity of the water’s edge. The design enhances the site with multiple planted areas, an extensive green roof, and bird-friendly glass. Materials native to the Island and used in the original construction of the Statue of Liberty and Fort Wood, including granite, bronze, and a variety of native vegetation, enrich the interior and exterior spaces.” ~ FXCollaborative

Made with 100% NYS Materials, the special blend of LiteTop American Hydrotech growing media by Naturcycle went over to Ellis Island on a barge via Super Sacks. The plant materials are a meadow mix with a cover crop to stabilize the plantings on the top and on the sloped areas. Hydrotech’s MM6125 membrane and components were used in all of the roof and adjacent planter areas as well.

“The landscape will seamlessly merge with the building, extending vistas rather than ending them, and creating a new, naturalized habitat in place of a traditional building. QRP is designing the landscape for the 20,000 square-foot green roof, which will be planted with native meadow species.” ~ Quennell Rothschild & Partners

As visitors ascend the Statue of Liberty Museum stone staircase, the sloped green roof meadow, achieved using Hydrotech’s GardNet, is seen on one side and a viewing platform appears on the other. New York Green Roofs was a consultant on the living roof’s plant palette.