Frida Escobedo, a 45-year-old Mexico City-born architect, is breaking barriers in the architectural world by becoming the first female architect to design a wing in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's 155-year history. Her groundbreaking $550 million Tang Wing for Modern and Contemporary Art, set to open in 2030, represents one of two major cultural projects she is simultaneously leading along Manhattan's iconic Fifth Avenue.
Escobedo's remarkable achievement extends beyond the Met, as she is also designing a new home for the National Black Theatre (NBT) in Harlem, located approximately 40 blocks north of the museum. Both projects mark unprecedented territory for the architect, who had never before completed a building for a cultural institution of this scale, nor had she designed a major project in New York City prior to these commissions.
The architect's career path has been notably unconventional in a profession that typically skews older and male. Rather than working her way up through established architectural firms or under the mentorship of celebrated "starchitects," Escobedo boldly opened her own eponymous studio in 2006. Her early projects demonstrated her innovative approach, including a juried commission for Mexico City's Museo Experimental El Eco, where she created movable concrete blocks in the museum's courtyard that could be reconfigured based on programming needs.
Escobedo's international breakthrough came in 2018 when she was selected to design the prestigious Serpentine Pavilion in London, twelve years after founding her practice. Her design featured a dark, porous structure constructed from stacked celosia walls typical of Mexican architecture, creating dramatic shadows that shifted with the rising and setting sun. This commission established her reputation on the global stage and demonstrated her ability to blend cultural heritage with contemporary design.
For the Metropolitan Museum project, Escobedo took the extraordinary step of fully immersing herself in the institution by establishing an office within the museum and working there for an entire year. This approach allowed her to collaborate closely with museum staff and gain deep insight into the institution's needs and culture. The resulting five-floor Tang Wing will feature two sweeping terraces and a latticed facade facing Central Park's greenery, transforming a portion of the museum that has long been architecturally underrepresented.
David Breslin, the Met's curator in charge of modern and contemporary art, emphasizes that Escobedo's limited experience with large-scale buildings was not a concern. He notes that this would likely be the biggest project for almost any architect they might have chosen, and her experimental and open approach has benefited the museum. "Artists love her, and artists are, a lot of the time, her first collaborators," Breslin explains, highlighting her collaborative methodology.
The Tang Wing will address a long-standing need at the Met, providing dedicated space for the museum's growing collection of 20th and 21st-century art. The museum recently received a substantial gift of 188 artworks by leading Surrealist and Dada figures, including Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, and Max Ernst, while continuing to add contemporary works by artists like Kerry James Marshall and Nicole Eisenman. Escobedo's design, developed in collaboration with architecture firm Beyer Blinder Belle, will feature varied spaces of different scales and relationships to accommodate the diverse formats of contemporary art.
Two miles uptown, Escobedo's work with the National Black Theatre reflects her commitment to community-focused design. The NBT, one of the longest-running Black theaters in the country, was founded in 1968 by Dr. Barbara Ann Teer as a "temple for liberation" during a time when Harlem was largely abandoned. Sade Lythcott, Teer's daughter who now leads the NBT, praises Escobedo's thoughtful and radical approach to creating "a monument of Black imagination."
The new NBT facility, located in the residential building Ray Harlem, will open in 2027 and house both a 250-seat flexible temple and a 99-seat theater within 27,000 square feet. Escobedo's design draws inspiration from Harlem's residential stoops, where residents gather with family and neighbors, directly informing the theater's private boxes and creating spaces that feel permeable to passersby while maintaining the enclosed environment necessary for performances.
Throughout her career, Escobedo has maintained a philosophy of approaching each project with fresh eyes, regardless of typology. "What I've learned is that I want to become very good at doing things for the first time," she explains. Her practice spans various scales and mediums, from Aesop retail stores to temporary sculptural museum installations and tranquil hospitality projects throughout Mexico, always refining her sense of minimalism with elegant touches that foster openness, tranquility, and adaptability.
Reflecting on her unexpected journey to having two major projects on the same historic Manhattan avenue, Escobedo acknowledges the challenges of building her practice. Despite early opportunities, she describes the process as "really difficult and incredibly challenging," particularly in building trust around a practice without extensive previous experience. However, her success demonstrates the value of curiosity, experimentation, and community engagement in architectural practice, setting new precedents for how cultural institutions can work with emerging talent to create meaningful spaces for the future.
