JUDY AND JOSH WESTON PAVILION AT AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

Designed by Polshek Partnership Architects, Features Permanent Hanging Armillary Sculpture and Astronomical Instrument Exhibition

The Judy and Josh Weston Pavilion at Columbus Avenue and 79th Street provides a dramatic, light-filled, airy new gateway to the American Museum of Natural History.

Designed by Polshek Partnership Architects and named in honor of a very generous gift to the Museum from Judy and Josh Weston, the Pavilion elegantly connects the Upper West Side neighborhood to the Museum, including the newly created Frederick Phineas & Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space.

"The Judy and Josh Weston Pavilion is a visually stunning and vitally important new addition to the Museum - a welcome mat and bridge to our community as the west side of Manhattan is linked for the first time to the heart of its surrounding neighborhood," said Ellen V. Futter, President of the Museum. "This Pavilion is a wonderful conclusion to the North Side project, which also includes the spectacular glass cube that is the Rose Center, the expansive Arthur Ross Terrace, and the renovated Theodore Roosevelt Park. It is a magnificent gift from Judy and Josh Weston that will be used and appreciated by millions of visitors."

The approximately 1,800-square-foot Weston Pavilion is a 43-foot-high transparent structure featuring the same "water white" glass that is a key component of the Rose Center's curtain wall. A glass entryway leads visitors across a terrazzo floor to the Pavilion's main information desk. Suspended 17 feet overhead is a sculpture of a galactic armillary sphere, a public work of art designed by the Museum's Exhibition Department. Measuring 18 feet across, the sculpture weighs 3,500 pounds and is made of aluminum and stainless steel.

To celebrate the opening of the Pavilion, Measuring Time, Exploring Space: Historical Instruments from the Hayden Planetarium Collection, a special exhibition featuring astronomical globes, sundials, astrolabes, and compasses, will be on display. These historical instruments combine scientific purpose with elegant artistry.

"The glass and steel structure of the Weston Pavilion," states architect James Polshek, "conveys the progressive, open spirit of the Rose Center's architecture but does so on a smaller scale that emphasizes the importance of an unambiguous, comfortable, secure, and predictable welcome. This threshold is a vital link in the Museum's complex circulation system."

On the main level of the Weston Pavilion, a passageway leads to a colorful Aztec Sun Stone mosaic inlaid in the terrazzo floor adjacent to the Museum's new garage. From there, visitors can continue to the Rose Center, and to the rest of the Museum-46 halls in total. A grand terrazzo staircase of metal and glass leads from the Pavilion's main entrance to the second-floor Galleria, which provides a spectacular view of, and access to, the Arthur Ross Terrace and the west side of the Rose Center. The Judy and Josh Weston Pavilion also will be a special entrance for Museum Patrons, Members, and their guests.

Outside the Pavilion, a 2,000-square-foot entry court of granite paving stones stretches westward from the Museum to the newly rejuvenated Theodore Roosevelt Park. Bordering the south side of the court is a copse of red cedars, fronted by ebony black bamboo. The east side contains equisitum, commonly known as horsetail or scouring rush, and to the west is a bed of tall decorative grasses including bronze tufted hair grass, all of which will bloom in the spring. The New York Times Capsule, designed by Santiago Calatrava and containing cultural artifacts from around the world-not to be opened until 3000-will be installed in the entry court in late spring.

Galactic Armillary Sculpture

The suspended armillary sculpture that is the centerpiece of the Pavilion was inspired by the armillary spheres of antiquity. Early instruments, dating back to the 2nd century A.D., were used as tools to derive the coordinates of stars and planets. Later models served as geocentric teaching aids, demonstrating the motion of celestial bodies as viewed from Earth. This aluminum and stainless steel sculpture, which instead places our Milky Way galaxy at the center, is positioned to demonstrate New York City's galactic address-its precise location-on January 1, 2000.

The design of the armillary sculpture was supervised by David Harvey, Vice President for Exhibition, assisted by Exhibition staff members Molly Lenore and Joey Stein. Their work was advised by Neil de Grasse Tyson, Astrophysicist and Frederick P. Rose Director of the Hayden Planetarium.

"This inspired sculpture," says David Harvey, "along with the Aztec Sun Stone mosaic and the remarkable astronomical instruments from the Hayden Planetarium Collection, weaves together elements of time, space, and history, just as the Rose Center for Earth and Space does, providing visitors with a clearer understanding of our galactic address."

Measuring Time, Exploring Space:
Historical Instruments from the Hayden Planetarium Collection

The Hayden Planetarium, since opening in 1935, has collected instruments that elucidate the history of astronomy. The bulk of this collection was received as two gifts, one as a bequest of 54 instruments from Mr. and Mrs. Leo E. Frank in 1939, and another as a gift of 55 instruments from Miss Susan D. Bliss in 1964. The Museum plans to display the Hayden Planetarium Collection on a rotating basis.

Among the most artfully designed antique items on exhibition is a book dial (a small hinged instrument, similar to a sundial, that opens and closes like a book) of rosewood, silver, and gilded brass, made in Italy and dating from 1613. The back of this handsomely crafted dial is designed for use at night. The user held the dial vertically, adjusted the shorter sighting rule to align with the pointer stars of the Big Dipper, and noted where the edge of this rule lay on the hours marked near the rim, thereby telling the time. Another valuable artifact is a horizontal compass dial of gilded brass that dates from the early 17th century in France. Also included are a brass astrolabe dated 1581 from Germany, horizontal compass dials, a polar dial, a telescope alidade, a 19th-century transit instrument, and a 19th-century astrological compass from China.

The Aztec Sun Stone

The terrazzo inlay representing the face of the Aztec Sun Stone, a monolithic pre-Columbian sculpture, was a centerpiece of the Hall of the Sun in the original Hayden Planetarium. Often mistakenly called the Aztec Calendar Stone, the 25-ton work depicted by the mosaic represents the fifth sun, or age, which began with the accession of King Itzcoatl (r. 1427-40). The original stone is on view at the Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, and a full-size cast stands in the Hall of Mexico and Central America in the Museum. The Aztec Sun Stone mosaic, created by Victor Foscato in 1935, and the Willamette Meteorite (now in the Hall of the Universe in the Rose Center) were two of the best-loved displays in the original Hayden Planetarium and are now, once again, on view.

Judy and Josh Weston

Judy and Josh Weston are longtime supporters of the Museum. Judy serves on the Museum Advisory Council and has been a valued volunteer in the Museum's Education Department since 1992. Josh Weston is former Chairman and CEO of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. He currently sits on the boards of Automatic Data Processing, Inc., and serves on several other corporate boards including J. Crew. He also plays an active role on numerous pro bono boards including, WNET/Channel 13, Boys Town of Jerusalem, The International Rescue Committee, Liberty Science Center, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and the United Nations Association. Mr. Weston has also been associated with the "I Have a Dream"® Foundation, Outward Bound, and The United Way of Tri-state. He holds a B.S. magna cum laude in Economics from City College of New York and an M.S. in Economics from the University of New Zealand, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. Mrs. Weston is a graduate of Brooklyn College and holds an M.S. in counseling from Montclair State University. Also, she was the president of the Adult School of Montclair and is on the board of the National Dance Institute. The Westons have four children and live in Montclair, New Jersey.

Polshek Partnership Architects, LLP

Polshek Partnership Architects, LLP, architects of the Rose Center for Earth and Space, is located in New York City. Since its founding in 1963, the firm has been known for architectural excellence and for its longstanding commitment to cultural, educational, governmental, and scientific institutions. A few of its many New York City projects are a new 640-seat performance space at Carnegie Hall, the Seaman's Church Institute, and Scandinavia House. The Partnership is also currently working on the Clinton Library.

Museum Hours

The Museum is open daily, 10:00 a.m.—5:45 p.m.
The Museum is closed Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Public Information
For additional information, the public may call 212-769-5100.