New York...April 26, 2001
Ellen V. Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History, today presided over the installation of The New York Times Capsule, commissioned by The New York Times to chronicle life in the late 20th century. The Capsule, a 5' x 5' x 5' sculpture of welded stainless steel, was designed by renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, whose entry was chosen from among 50 proposals. The Capsule was the centerpiece of the Museum's 1999 exhibition Capturing Time: The New York Times Capsule. In attendance at the installation were: Henry Stern, Commissioner, Department of Parks and Recreation; Jennifer Raab, Commissioner, Landmarks Preservation Commission; Jean Parker Phifer, President, Art Commission; Daniel J. Boorstin, Librarian of Congress Emeritus and the First Capsule Keeper; and Calatrava.

Described by Calatrava as resembling a flower, the Capsule contains diverse artifacts of the late 20th century and will be permanently on display atop a polished black granite base in the plaza of the Judy and Josh Weston Pavilion at Columbus Avenue and West 79th Street, until the year 3000, at which time the capsule will be opened. Derived from a sculpture series that explores the formal properties of folded spherical frames, the form of the Capsule has been sliced through horizontally, forming two halves. The four top segments are hinged to the bottom four. The cavities of the segments are hollow and together contain about 50 cubic feet of storage space, allowing four tall containers to be housed inside.

"The Museum is a repository of objects telling the history of life on Earth," stated President Futter. The Times Capsule contents, culled from suggestions made by thousands of people, will present a multifaceted glimpse-a snapshot-of life at the end of the 20th century. We are honored that the guardianship of this millennial treasure had been entrusted to the Museum, where it will be on permanent display as a visible symbol for generations to come."

"Typically, time capsules are buried for protection," said Jack Rosenthal, President, The New York Times Company Foundation. "But there's another, better way to insure that something is preserved: make it beautiful. That's what Santiago Calatrava has done by creating this monumentally beautiful Times Capsule, and now the Museum does us honor by making it a jewel in its new crown."

Dr. Boorstin, historian, Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Librarian of Congress Emeritus, was named the first ceremonial "Capsule Keeper" in March of 2000, appointed by the Museum and The New York Times. As part of a tradition to be carried on through this millennium, each Capsule Keeper will pass stewardship of the Capsule to a successor.

Calatrava's capsule design was chosen in an international design competition launched by The New York Times Magazine in 1999 that attracted some of the foremost names in architecture, design, and engineering from 15 countries. The competition sought the best design for a capsule to preserve key artifacts from today for the next 1,000 years: a design that would be both a work of art and an educational ambassador to future generations.

On December 4, 1999, the Museum opened Capturing Time: The New York Times Capsule, a special exhibition that explored concepts of time and the history of time capsules and included samples of the proposed contents of the Times Capsule, some of the design proposals received in the competition to create the Capsule, and Calatrava's winning design. The exhibition also examined biological, cosmological, and cultural concepts of time.

When Capturing Time:
The New York Times Capsule closed on March 26, 2000, the Times Capsule was removed to A.R.T. Design in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where it had originally been fabricated. For a year, The New York Times collected suggestions of possible items and artifacts for the Capsule from visitors to the Museum's exhibition and to the New York Times Web site. After sorting through the thousands of suggestions submitted, Steven Mihm, The New York Times coordinator of the Times Capsule, sent the artifacts to be included, to Future Packaging and Preservation of Covina, CA. The items were treated with preservative, surrounded with a layer of Nanopore® insulation, packed in special steel containers engraved with the New York Times logo, and sealed. The containers were placed inside the Capsule, which was then welded shut on March 28, 2001, at A.R.T. Design.

The Judy and Josh Weston Pavilion, Permanent Site of the Times Capsule
The recently opened, approximately 1,800-square-foot Judy and Josh Weston Pavilion is a 43-foot-high transparent structure featuring the same "water white" glass that is a key component of the Frederick Phineas & Sandra Priest Rose Center's curtain wall. The Times Capsule will be on permanent display on the Pavilion's 2,000-square-foot plaza of granite paving stones. A plaque embedded in the plaza reads, "This is the Times Capsule, designed by Santiago Calatrava, created by The New York Times and placed at the American Museum of Natural History in 2001. The contents are intended to offer insight into daily life today. We ask that it remain sealed until January 1, 3000."