The Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, American Natural History Museum | 2021

Designers: Josh Dudley, Melanie Ide, Jennifer Whitburn, Grit Vltavsky, Christiaan Kuypers, Luka Kito, Edwin Lam, Ni-Tsia Cheong, Cassidy Lavine, Natalia Oliveri, Alison Leung, John Locascio, Hannah Nathans, Josh Whitehead, Ruyun Xiao, Zoe Pu, Kate Reutershan, Naomi Seixas, Judy Vannais, Earl Bell, George Robertson, Sean Pattison, and Graham Kervin, Ralph Appelbaum Associates, New York, New York, USA
Client: American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York, USA

In 2021, the American Museum of Natural History’s world-renowned Allison and Roberto Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals were reopened with a completely new presentation. Within the renovated halls, an open layout invites curiosity-driven exploration. The halls’ elegant design carefully integrates interpretive graphics and media programs for a new generation of diverse museum visitors.

Foremost in the renovation concept was showcasing the Museum’s vast mineralogy collection. Over 5,000 specimens are on view in custom casework with state-of-the-art lighting. A layer of inquiry-based interpretation helps to engage visitors through Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which offers tools for investigating science practices as they relate to mineralogy.

The Hall of Minerals is anchored by a central “allée,” flanked by cases that feature groupings of the most beautiful specimens, as well as individual displays of the most spectacular, iconic single specimens. It also features a selection of large, touchable minerals that encourage visitor engagement. Taken together, the corner exhibits serve as the foundational framework for the expansive and thematic exhibits in the center of the hall, which foreground the science of mineral-forming environments. Each cluster of double-sided casework presents a rich array of specimens contextualized with accessible yet scientifically accurate stories, illustrations, diagrams, and images.

A continuous band of elegant showcases along the Hall of Minerals’ west wall presents an exhibit on Systematics, offering visitors a deeper dive into how minerals are classified. At its center, a multi-visitor interactive Periodic Table exhibit invites visitors to virtually create their own minerals using elements as building blocks.

In the Hall of Gems, deep-blue lacquered walls frame a selection of precious and semi-precious stones, gem rough, and jewelry from the collection. Interpretation focuses on the special properties that elevate certain mineral families to the status of gemstones and provides historical and cultural context.

“How Does Light Matter?” is a dramatic new exhibit in the south side gallery that explores the optical properties that manifest in different and beautiful ways when light meets minerals. The gallery’s east wall is entirely taken up by a giant slab of fluorescent rock, specially quarried for the project. As a UV lighting program changes, a variety of minerals in this astonishing specimen glow in shades of pink, green and orange, creating a mesmerizing draw from the Mineral Hall.