Frida Escobedo has forged an unusual path in architecture, founding her own studio at a young age. Now, she’s bringing two of New York’s storied cultural institutions into the future.

Every square foot of it could, with the addition of some extra materials, power the world that it has grown to cover.

Concrete has a long history of innovation, dating back to 6500 B.C.E. Although most of this material breakthroughs through millennia have been related to durability—the Romans were particularly gifted ...