The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has announced that it has chosen Mexican architect Frida Escobedo to design the new Oscar L Tang and HM Agnes Hsu-Tang Wing, which was previously assigned to David Chipperfield Architects.

The Met announced on Monday 14 March 2022 that 43-year-old Escobedo will take over from Chipperfield, after seven years of growing costs and lack of funding for his studio's design.

Donations from the Tangs, trustees of the museum, will now allow the long-standing project to move forward with a new prospective design will include 80,000 square feet (7,400 square metres) of gallery and public space, according to the museum.

"Frida Escobedo is an outstanding architect of our time," said The Met director Max Hollein in a release. "In her practice, she wields architecture as a way to create powerful spatial and communal experiences, and she has shown dexterity and sensitivity in her elegant use of material while bringing sincere attention to today's socioeconomic and ecological issues."

The new wing will be home to the museum's collection of modern art, encompassing works from the 20th and 21st century, including a collection of Cubist paintings gifted to the museum.

While no plans for the design have been released, the museum said that it expects a "building that respects and connects with the Museum’s archipelago of architectural styles as well as its spatial organisation and infrastructure".

According to the New York Times, David Chipperfield Architects released a tweet expressing sadness over the end of the seven-year commitment to the design, but congratulated Escobedo. The tweet was later deleted.

Escobedo founded her eponymous studio in 2006 and was the youngest architect ever to design the Serpentine Pavilion in London, which she spoke about in this exclusive movie for Dezeen.

In 2019, Escobedo was one of 32 architects to design buildings for an experimental community in Hidalgo, Mexico.

The opening photo is by Ste Murray.