New York-based design consultancy Synoptic Office has created an immersive digital platform for Neue Galerie New York, bringing the museum’s unique collection of early twentieth-century Austrian and German art and design to global audiences virtually.

Located on New York’s famous Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue, the Neue Galerie houses the largest collections of works by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele outside Vienna. It also features the Viennese-inspired Café Sabarsky and a highly curated Book Store and Design Shop, which celebrate the history and allure of the art and culture of this particular time and place.

Bringing these elements together through clever design and motion, the new website captures all that the Neue Galerie offers as a “total work of art,” and transports audiences back in time.

“We are so glad to have partnered with Synoptic Office to construct a beautiful, refreshing online presence,” said Renée Price, Director of Neue Galerie New York. “A visit to our museum is a tactile, sensory experience, which Synoptic Office has translated elegantly for a digital age.”

Gesamtkunstwerk – a total work of art

As for many museums and institutions, the pandemic prompted the Neue Galerie to rethink how to engage and inspire audiences that could not visit in person.

The Neue Galerie wished to develop a practical digital platform that would welcome a global audience to explore the museum digitally, while still communicating the poetics of the Austrian and German art and culture that the museum offers.

“When you step into the 1914 Gilded Age building, you step into another world,” says YuJune Park, Synoptic Office partner and co-founder. “The Neue Galerie has created a real ‘Jewel Box’ experience, where every element from its Café Sabarsky – inspired by the great cafés of Vienna’s Ringstrasse – to its Book Store and Design Shop make for a truly immersive visit.”

These different parts of the experience – the art forms and creative processes working together to create a cohesive whole – are referred to as a Gesamtkunstwerk, which in German translates roughly to “a total work of art.”

As part of this seamless totality, the platform invites visitors to explore all aspects of the museum experience – exhibitions, public programs, dining, shopping – without navigating away from the artwork itself.

Caspar Lam, Synoptic Office partner and co-founder, says, “We wanted the website to be a true extension of the museum, to somehow capture that Gesamtkunstwerk experience for the online visitor where culture, history, and the artworks live side by side.

We integrated a related objects module into every page to improve visitor circulation around the site, allowing users to go seamlessly from an exhibition to the shop, for example, and vice versa. It is also an invitation to continue the experience offline with a beautiful, physical object linked to the collections.”

A video-first approach for an immersive experience

To communicate the sensation of exploring a physical space, Synoptic Office used motion to showcase content across the website.

Just like in real life, the visitor finds themselves standing outside the museum on the website’s landing page, and navigates via video, through the front door into the collections and historic spaces.

This use of this specific welcome video not only helps transport the visitor, but showcases the museum itself – the Neue Galerie is located in one of the few surviving Gilded Age mansions on New York’s Fifth Avenue, itself a stunning work of architectural art and history.

Working with creative services company SandenWolff on the videography, Neue Galerie New York ensured each video was as immersive and visually accurate as possible, taking up the full screen where possible, so the visitor truly feels like they’re entering the space.

“Synoptic Office reimagined the timeless, old world experience of a visit to the Neue Galerie for a digital context,” says Michelle Perlin, Director, External Affairs and Communications at Neue Galerie New York. “The new platform invites arts lovers, scholars, gourmands, and shoppers from around the world to explore and engage with all aspects of the Neue Galerie. A visitor to the new website is welcomed into our historic space – of course, with the aim to inspire a future visit on-site. I am especially grateful to Synoptic Office and SandenWolff for working collaboratively and thoughtfully to bring this cohesive vision to fruition.”

Navigating a complex story – a balance of poetry and practicality

As with all digital collections, site architecture was key to ensuring an enjoyable experience for the visitor. Navigation needed to be clear and easy, while still telling the story of the collections.

All collections have a reason for being, and finding and telling that story to the visitor is integral to the success and longevity of interest in a gallery and museum. Synoptic Office worked closely with the Neue Galerie to translate this story on a digital platform, retaining the poetry of the collection whilst ensuring the site is practically functional.

Since launching the website, online visitors have increased their time spent across it by 26% per visit. User engagement on storytelling pages increased upwards by 73%.

Creating borderless experiences

The new site allows the Neue Galerie to become truly borderless, preserving and sharing its knowledge for the broadest possible audience.

Park says, “That’s what we always hope for with our work – to make these collections accessible to all, to unlock the rich stream of human stories buried within an organization’s archives, and spark conversation. Digitalization simply means more art can be part of more lives”.

Neue Galerie New York’s new digital platform is now live at neuegalerie.org.