The Met’s Reimagined Rockefeller Wing Rises to the Moment

After four years of anticipation, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Michael C. Rockefeller Wing has reopened, and it is nothing short of transformative. The redesign is not merely an architectural facelift; it is a rethinking of how the museum tells the stories of Africa, Oceania, and the Indigenous Americas. What once felt like a corridor of distant artifacts now stands as a cathedral of light and intention, where the past is honored, the present is acknowledged, and the future is invited in.

The reimagined wing, conceived by Kulapat Yantrasast of WHY Architecture alongside Beyer Blinder Belle, reorients the space around a sense of reverence. Inspired by the Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali, the ceiling has been reshaped with a rhythmic ribbed vault that lifts the eye and elevates the experience. Towering glass curtain walls filter daylight through the galleries, creating an atmosphere that feels both sacred and transparent. This is a striking departure from the dim, bunker-like halls that previously housed these works. The result is as emotional as it is intellectual.

At the heart of this transformation is a renewed respect for the integrity and specificity of the objects on view. Over 1,700 pieces, many acquired by Michael Rockefeller himself before his mysterious disappearance in New Guinea in 1961, have been reinstalled in groupings that emphasize context over category. Rather than flattening cultural distinctions, the new layout lets each object breathe within its cultural and historical space. A carved Asmat bis pole, reaching dramatically toward the ceiling, now commands the scale it deserves. A Nubian stele, placed near the Greek and Roman galleries, creates a silent but potent conversation across time and geography.

What is most compelling is the way the new galleries embrace both legacy and living culture. Contemporary commissions have been seamlessly integrated into the installation. Zanele Muholi’s striking photographic portraits of LGBTQ+ life in South Africa are placed among works that might once have told a narrower version of African identity. New pieces by Indigenous artists, including Taloi Havini, further complicate and enrich the historical narrative. Audio recordings, artist statements, and community interviews punctuate the galleries, turning the act of viewing into a layered experience of listening, learning, and reckoning.

The architecture does not shy away from symbolism. In the past, the Rockefeller Wing occupied a marginal space within the museum both physically and conceptually. Now, it quite literally stands taller. The improved sightlines, natural light, and soaring ceilings echo the shift in curatorial philosophy. These works are no longer framed as “other” but as essential. The decision to place them in dialogue with other departments, from Greek art to decorative European objects, reinforces their centrality in the global canon.

This renovation also reflects a growing institutional self-awareness. The Met has taken deliberate steps to involve scholars and stakeholders from the cultures represented. Provenance research, community partnerships, and a willingness to address questions of repatriation all signal a broader shift toward ethical curation. The result is a space that feels neither neutral nor nostalgic. It is alive, open, and unfinished in the best possible way.

The reopening of the Rockefeller Wing marks a new chapter for The Met, one where beauty is inseparable from accountability and where architecture and content move in quiet, confident harmony. The wing does not just showcase objects; it restores their agency. And in doing so, it invites visitors to reconsider what belongs at the heart of a global museum and why.