Design floor passed screen test for New York's famous film museum brilliantly

Bolidt could open a museum itself and fill it with exhibitions on its rich history plus a diverse range of installed synthetic flooring collections. A considerable percentage of these would fall under the category of culture, including theatres, cinemas and museums. For the time being, such notions are put aside to give projects like the film museum in Astoria, New York – the Museum of the Moving Image –a deserved place in the limelight.

The museum is housed in the former Astorio Studio complex, once built by what is now known as film giant Paramount Productions. It was in this complex where the first silent films were produced. In 1982, the New York government made one of the original studio buildings available to establish a film and television museum. It was renovated by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects and in 1985 it received the name ‘American Museum of the Moving Image’. The ‘American’ was dropped later, as it had become redundant.

The dates reveal that these events took place quite some time ago. A recent development, however, is the large-scale renovation and extension of the museum, which started in February 2008 (Leeser Architecture). The huge scope of the project is not only reflected in the 67 million dollar budget, but also in the fact that it was not finished until January of 2011. The museum owns one of largest and most comprehensive collections of moving image material in the world. Since the renovation, the museum looks stunning. Words are inadequate, only (photo)graphic images can convey the true story of breathtaking architecture and interior styling.

Bolidt contributed to the latter by installing the ultimate in design flooring: a snow white Bolidtop^® 525, purpose developed by Bolidt for the cultural sector. The flooring creates a striking sense of space and supreme design. In this case, the pristine white colour also acts as a humble servant of the colourful moving images and pictures, which stand out even more in this white setting. It was not Bolidt’s first international design project – as proven by examples such as the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the Water Cube in Beijing and the Berlin State Library– and it will not be its last either. The versatility of Bolidt’s systems is almost limitless. Like the Museum of the Moving Image, you have to see it to believe it.