American architecture firm Studio Gang has released an updated set of renderings of its undulating addition to the American Natural History Museum in Manhattan.
Studio Gang unveiled new renderings of the addition, known as the Richard Gilder Center, to coincide with the extension breaking ground last week.
The centre is designed to add galleries, classrooms, a theatre and a library to the American Museum of Natural History in New York's Upper West Side. It will also include an insectarium and a year-round living butterfly exhibit.
The scheme, which was first revealed in 2015, is intended to reference an undulating facade inspired by natural earth processes and rock formations. The new images reveal the walls will comprise thick pale blocks with irregularly shaped windows as openings.
"Our design for the Gilder Center will invite visitors to explore the wonders of the museum with its openness and smooth, flowing geometry," said studio founder Jeanne Gang at the ground-breaking ceremony on 12 June.
Among the feature spaces of the building is the Central Exhibition Hall,  an atrium flanked by expansive glass walls that will welcoming. Its cavernous interiors, comprising textured walls and pathways, will form a continuation of the rock-like exterior. A large skylight will top the addition's atrium, bringing in additional natural light.
"Through a network of new connections, people will be able to follow their own curiosity to discover treasures of natural histo...