Frida Escobedo is the first woman to design a wing at The Met. In this interview, the Mexican architect explains how she’s bringing exclusive views of Central Park “back to the public”.

Escobedo is going through a busy time. As well as designing the new wing for The Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) in New York, she is currently working on the renovation of the Centre Pompidou cultural centre in Paris, with both projects set to complete in 2030.

Dezeen spoke to the Mexican architect on a video call from her newly opened New York office, from which she is leading the work on her limestone-clad Met design.

Frida Escobedo has designed a new wing for The Met. Image by Filippo Bolognese

The building will feature five tiered floors, with outdoor terraces located on fourth and fifth-floor setbacks overlooking Central Park.

This aspect of the design was important to Escobedo, who sees Central Park as a “piece of art” in itself.

“The idea is for it to be a building that’s very respectful of Central Park and recognizes that we’re in a privileged condition – we’re living inside a landmark, a piece of art, which is Central Park, so having a strong relationship with it was very important,” she told Dezeen.

“One strategy was to think about the enclosure and how we can soften the building,” Escobedo added. “And at the same time, we were thinking about the terraces as a way of connecting to the museum, the park and the city.”

“Mixed feelings” about being first woman Met architect 

The architect also took into consideration the fact that The Met’s existing rooftop terrace is very popular among visitors, most of whom otherwise have few opportunities to see the park from above.

“That view of Central Park and the Manhattan skyline right now really only belongs to private residences, so it’s a very unique opportunity to bring it back to the idea of the public being able to experience that,” Escobedo said.

During part of her time working on the project, Escobedo was based at The Met itself.

“We moved into The Met building for one year to continue to build that relationship and to really understand the institution from inside,” she said.

“I think that was very positive, and it was quite magical; just coming to The Met in the morning when the museum is empty is a great experience.”

As well as being the youngest architect ever to design a wing for the 21-building complex that makes up The Met, Escobedo is also the first woman to do so.

“It’s incredible – I mean, sometimes I have these mixed feelings, like I wish I wasn’t the first female [to do this], but at the same time, I feel incredibly grateful,” she said of the milestone.

“I know how hard it is, and I know how many things had to change before I came to this time and this moment, how many things had to align for me to have that opportunity,” Escobedo added.

“I feel very grateful to all the people who have been working towards this change, because it’s not something that should be taken for granted.”

Centre Pompidou was designed “almost like a machine” says Escobedo. Image by Moreau Kusunoki Architectes and Frida Escobedo Studio

In addition to working on The Met, Escobedo’s studio, together with French firm Moreau Kusunoki, is giving the Centre Pompidou a major overhaul. Designed by British architect Richard Rogers and Italian architect Renzo Piano and opened in 1977, the Pompidou is an icon of high-tech architecture.

The renovation is set to improve movement and accessibility around the museum, as well as treat corroded areas of the building and replace all facades.

The high-tech Centre Pompidou, whose structure and mechanical services are visible on its exterior, has a very strong design language, Escobedo said.

“It’s a building that becomes a platform; it was conceived to be very flexible and to become almost like a machine that could be reprogrammed, depending on the time and the activities,” she said.

The idea behind the renovation was to look at the original essence of the building and try to clarify the scheme.

“We can think ‘what is the organising alphabet, and how can we rewrite some of the scripts that happen within the building with the same alphabet’,” Escobedo said.

“It’s almost like a syntax exercise; changing the arrangement of the words, and maybe giving them new meaning, but it’s still the same words.”

“[Centre Pompidou] has such a strong personality that I think it’s easy to read what the elements are, and hopefully we’re doing a good job at being respectful and listening to what the building has to say to us,” she added.

Centre Pompidou offers “seeds of the cultural identity that a city can provide”

Like The Met, Centre Pompidou has strong connections to the city that surrounds it, something that Escobedo has taken into consideration when working on the renovation.

“Most people think about the Centre Pompidou as a museum, but it’s actually a larger cultural program, which is very important,” she said.

“This becomes a space where people come not just to study, but also to do other things that are crucial to modern life,” Escobedo added.

“Like doing your paperwork when you’re an immigrant, or to be able to file for certain documents, or gather as a teenager and find a place that you can call your own. That’s the seeds of the cultural identity that a city can provide.”

Escobedo’s stainless-steel Cube 01 will be shown at Art Basel. Photo courtesy of Frida Escobedo

This week, Escobedo will also take part in the Art Basel art fair for the first time with a piece called Cube 01, in collaboration with Galerie Nordenhake.

Composed of seven mirror-finished stainless-steel geometric forms that together form a perforated cube, the artwork was inspired by a brief from Maison Cartier to reinterpret its Pasha watch.

“My grandfather was a watchmaker, so I accepted because I had this nostalgia about the construction of watches and seeing him work in his workshop,” Escobedo said.

“But then it became more of a question of how we interpret time and how it could be represented in a piece. We wanted to do something that was spatial, but not necessarily a room or a building.”

Architecture means doing things “for the first time over and over”

The Art Basel piece is an example of Escobedo’s philosophy that you should always try new things.

“I think the less you start defining yourself as something very specific, the more interesting you become, and the better the work is,” she said.

“I’m wary of people who try to define themselves too much and to hyper-specialise; I don’t believe in specialisation, I prefer to do things for the first time,” Escobedo added.

“I think that’s why architecture is so wonderful, because even if you are doing, say, residential projects, each house is different. So you’re doing it for the first time over and over.”

And there are areas that she still wants to explore.

“I would love to design a garden,” she said.

The main photograph is by Manuel Zúñiga.

Art Basel 2025 takes place from 19 to 22 June at Messe Basel, Messeplatz 10, 4058 Basel, Switzerland. For more information about events, exhibitions and talks, visit Dezeen Events Guide.

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