The Rothko Chapel will reopen in Houston this June after a 14-month restoration project by Architecture Research Office that is part of a wider $30m (€28m, £23m) masterplan project the studio is carrying out. Opened in 1971, the chapel was created as a place for interfaith worship and contemplation by its founders – artist Mark Rothko and John and Dominique de Menil – and has 14 huge Rothko canvases on

The Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation Centre for Conservation at Museum Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) in Texas has reopened as part of the second phase of the institution's US$450m (€395.5m, £351.5m) redevelopment, designed by Lake|Flato Architects. The new centre sits across the road from MFAH’s curatorial offices and includes 23,796sq ft (2,211sq m) of conservation studios and support space and will now allow the museum to bring together various art conversation

Work has been completed on the new Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston (MFAH), designed by Steven Holl Architects. The School – the only museum-run institute in the US with programmes that serve students of all ages, from 3-year-olds to adults – is a major component of the museum’s 14-acre redevelopment, masterminded by Holl, which is currently the largest cultural project under construction in

Landscape architects West 8 have revealed their first clear-cut plans for a new 120 acre Houston Botanic Garden set to open to the Texas public in 2020. The firm have released details of ‘Botanic Beginnings’, the first phase of their 120-acre masterplan for the site, which will be developed over the next three decades on a site located a short distance outside downtown Houston. The Garden, conceived as “Houston’s next

Houston’s Holocaust Museum has announced plans to nearly triple in size following a US$15m (€13.5m, £11.8m) gift from longtime patrons Lester and Sue Smith. The Smith’s donation goes towards the museum’s ongoing US$49.4m (€43.9m, £39.6m) capital fundraising campaign, which includes in addition to costs for the redevelopment, US$11.7m (€10.5m, £9.2m) in endowment funds. Expanding in size to 57,000sq ft (5,300sq m), the US$33.8m (€30.3m, £26.6m) expansion will see two thirds

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston has broken ground on a new building dedicated to modern and contemporary art, designed by Steven Holl Architects. The 165,000sq ft (15,300sq m) Nancy and Rich Kinder Building is the centrepiece of the museum’s wider US$450m (€400m, £348m) expansion, and will house 54,000sq ft (5,000sq m) of gallery space for exhibitions showcasing its collection. The building will be clad in a translucent-glass exterior, which

A masterplan drawn up by Dutch landscape architects West 8 to create a 120 acre botanic garden in Houston, Texas has received approval from the city’s mayor. Plans to create a vast public green space showcasing Houston's native plants, preserving various wildlife habitats and hosting community events have been in development since 2002, but received a major boost last year after US$5m (€4.4m, £3.5m) was successfully fundraised to move the

The Houston Astrodome, could be saved and turned into a multi-use leisure facility, following the publication of a new report by the Urban Land Institute (ULI). The ULI report was complied by a panel of experts from the fields of architecture, urban planning and land use. Suggestions include a ground-level open space that could host an array of activities including an adventure park, indoor track, zip lines and mountain bike

The Museum of Fine Arts, in Houston, Texas, has unveiled its US$450m (E381m, £297m) expansion plan to carry it through to 2019. The masterplan – by Steven Holl Architects – will see a redevelopment of the 14-acre (56,600sq m) campus to include new buildings, gardens and a top floor restaurant. Plans include a 164,000sq ft (15,200sq m) gallery to showcase the museum’s collection of 20th and 21st century art, as

The University of Houston (UH) Athletics Department has unveiled plans for its new on-campus stadium, to open for its inaugural game 30 August 2014. The 40,000-seat synthetic turf stadium, with future capacity for 60,000, is set to cost US$105m (79.12m euro, £64.49m) and host events including football games as well as other university events. The plans were unveiled on 19 December by representatives from Manhattan Construction and DLR Group who

Image: The hall forms part of HMNS' expansion plans A new US$85m (EUR68m, £55m) Hall of Palaeontology featuring more than 30 dinosaurs opens to the public at Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) in Texas, US, tomorrow (2 June). The 30,000sq ft (2,787sq m) facility forms part of a wider expansion – the Dan L Duncan Family Wing – designed by Gensler and boasts a total of 60 major mounts,

Image: The stadium takes fans closer to the action The BBVA Compass Stadium - home to Major League Soccer's (MLS) Houston Dynamo - has become the first "soccer-specific" venue to open in a downtown location in the US. Located in the heart of Houston, the 22,000-seat stadium - designed by Populous - incorporates a pitch using TifGrand Bermuda grass and a 94,000sq ft (8,733sq m) exterior aluminium 'skin'. The close