High Hopes

Staff -- Interior Design, 7/1/2003 12:00:00 AM

Since its founding in 1996, New York's Skyscraper Museum has held exhibitions in temporary spaces—one of which, five blocks from the World Trade Center, became a Federal Emergency Management Agency resource center after September 11. Now, thanks to a generous donation by real-estate developer Millennium Partners, the museum is finally getting a permanent, gratis home at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed the ground-level space, also free of charge.

As of November, visitors will be able to explore the history of the skyscraper via an inaugural exhibition, "Building a Collection." SOM's stainless-steel floors and ceilings will reflect display cases into endless verticals, an homage to the towering buildings themselves.