The owners of the Glenstone Museum in the United States, Mitchell and Emily Rales, have announced the beginning of construction for a new building to house their extensive private art collection. The museum will join an existing one on their private estate in Potomac, Maryland. The current building, which opened to the public in 2006, was designed by Charles Gwathmey of Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects and covers a total

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey has donated US$12m (£7.6m) to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, which is currently under construction in Washington D.C. Half of the building's US$500m (£319m) price tag is being funded by the government, while the remaining half is being raised by the museum. Winfrey's donation is the largest received to date and in recognition, the museum's 350-seat theatre will be named the

George Lucas, the creator of cinematic movie greats such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones, is a step closer to opening a cultural arts museum in his hometown of San Francisco. Lucas is one of three finalists vying to secure a site in the Presidio National Park, which was formerly a military base. In his submission to the Presidio Trust, Lucas says the Lucas Cultural Arts Museum will be a

The St Louis Art Museum, in the US State of Missouri, has closed its doors until 29 June when it will reopen with a new East Building extension. The building, designed by David Chipperfield Architects with technical assistance from St Louis-based HOK, will increase the museum's gallery and public space by 30 per cent and will house 21 new galleries. The inaugural exhibitions in the East Building will feature 230

Design plans for the new multi-million pound King Richard III visitor centre in the heart of Leicester's Old Town has been revealed. The former Leicester Grammar School building at St Martin's Place will be transformed to house a new exhibition, entitled 'Richard III: Dynasty, Death and Discovery' which will guide visitors through the story of the king's life, brutal death at Bosworth Field in 1485, and the story of his

A proposed £8.8m Landscape Discovery Centre in Northumberland National Park (NNP) has the potential to contribute £3.5m (US$5.2m, €3.9m) to the local economy, according to reports. The Economic Impact Assessment, prepared by New Skills Consulting and the KSA Partnership, which was commissioned by NNP and the Youth Hostels Association (YHA), estimated that 'The Sill' has the potential to attract up to 120,000 new visitors and generate £3.35m (US$5.2m, €3.9m) annually

Albert Einstein's life and work, as well as his connections to Judaism and Zionism, are to be honoured by a museum in Jerusalem. The museum will be located at The Hebrew University on Mount Scopus, a site which has drawn some controversy as it lies outside Israel's pre-1967 borders. A design concept, by Foster + Partners, in collaboration with local Israeli firm, Baer, Shiftman-Nathan Architects, has been commissioned by the

The Corning Museum of Glass in New York has unveiled the final design of its North Wing expansion, which is slated to open in late 2014. Designed by Thomas Phifer and Partners, the addition will include a new 26,000 sq ft (2,415sq m) contemporary art gallery building, as well as a new 500-seat glassmaking demonstration venue in the renovated facility of the former Steuben Glass factory ventilator building, adjacent to

The multi-million dollar Lambda project have been given the green light to create the Munch Museum in a glass structure on Oslo’s waterfront. Spanish architects Herreros Arquitectos were appointed to design the museum in 2009 but the project was put on hold over issues on cost and location. The museum is now being developed on the site originally intended; a 12,000sq ft glass structure on the waterfront. Expected to open

After more than a decade of planning and preparation, the new Mediterranean civilisations museum (Mucem) is preparing open its doors to the public. The €191m (£163.3m, US$249.7m) project will be the worlds first museum to be dedicated to Mediterranean civilisations and culture. With an expected 300,000 visitors a year, Mucem will be the first standalone French national museum ever to be located outside of Paris. Developed in partnership with the

Plans are in the works to bring a Guggenheim museum to Wales as early as 2019 in a bid to replicate the success that came from opening one in Bilbao, Spain. In 2012 the Guggenheim in Bilbao helped generate €294.6m (£252.2m, US$380.2m) in GDP for the country. The predicted opening date of 2019 or 2020 would coincide with the current timetable for the electrification of the south Wales rail line.

London's cultural landmark the British Museum has broken ground on its new multi-million pound capital project, the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre (WCEC). Designed by Rogers, Stirk, Harbour + Partners (RSHP) and constructed by Mace, the new WCEC is one of the largest redevelopment projects in the museum's 260 year history. The aim of the project is to safeguard and enhance collections, while enabling the museum to store, conserve, study

Beijing-based MAD Architects have unveiled the completed China Wood Sculpture Museum located in Harbin, China. The 200m (656ft) long building is sheathed in metal and surrounded by a densely populated Chinese-style neighbourhood and residential complexes. It was constructed with the aim of adding cultural and surreal essence to the surrounding urban context. The museum takes the form of a twisted strip of steel, punctuated with curved windows. MAD describes the

London's Hackney Council has rejected a planning application for an £18.9m redevelopment project at the Geffrye Museum. The museum, which examines the changing face of middle class homes in England over the past 400 years, appointed David Chipperfield Architects to increase its capacity, which it says is stretched to the limit. The plans included a two-storey extension, new gallery, library, collections and archive stores, conference suite, restaurant, and a new

The British Museum has revealed it is progressing on schedule for the opening of its new £135m exhibition space, due to open in March 2014. Construction on the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre (WCEC) began in autumn 2011 in the north-west corner of the museum's central London estate. The redevelopment project is one of the largest in the museum's 260-year history and will include a new public exhibition gallery, state-of-the-art

London's Science Museum has revealed details regarding its communications gallery Information Age, due to open in September 2014. The £15.6m space will include interactive displays and reveal personal stories about how human life has been transformed by communication innovations over the past 200 years. Covering a space of 2,500sq m - the largest exhibition space in the museum - the gallery will be divided into six zones focused on transformative

San Francisco's Exploratorium science museum officially unveiled its US$300m (228m euro, £197m) expansion at Pier 15 on the city's waterfront on 17 April. The museum now has 330,000sq ft (30,658sq m) of floor space - trebling the footprint it had at its former home at the Palace of Fine Arts. It will display more than 600 exhibits. Established in 1969, the museum is dedicated to science, art and human perception,

London-based architects Carmody Groarke have submitted a planning application to the Lake District National Park to redevelop the Windermere Steamboat Museum into a heritage attraction. The £13.4m museum development will include exhibition space, a wet dock to display heritage boats and a conservation workshop open to the public. Highlights of the collection will include: steam launches of the 1890s and 1900s; SL Dolly (1850) - the oldest mechanically powered boat

A new US$300m (€ 230m, £195m) Academy Museum of Motion Pictures is being developed in Los Angeles, US by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali. The Museum, which is slated to debut in 2017, will span 300,000 sq ft (27,870sq m). Located in the 1939 May Company Building on the campus of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the museum will feature six levels of exhibition and programming

Shelburne Museum in Vermont, US is set to open a new Centre for Art and Education that will transform the museum from seasonal to year-round operation. For the first time, the public will have year-round access to the museum's collections. The eco-friendly centre will create a modern, flexible venue for exhibitions of art and design featuring loaned works and touring exhibitions. Designed by Boston-based Ann Beha Architects, the centre will

Science Oxford has submitted a planning application for its proposed £38m attraction The Magnet - the UK's first integrated science discovery and innovation centre. The development has been designed by Foster + Partners to be built next to Castle Mound. Its centrepiece attraction would be a world-class planetarium but it would also include displays, events and lectures promoting all forms of science. The innovation centre would provide accommodation and support

The former Queens Museum of Art has announced it is rebranding as it prepares to reopen in October following a US$68m (53m euro, £45m) 50,000sq ft (4,645sq m) expansion, which will see it double in size. The international art space in Flushing Meadows will now be known as Queens Museum. The institution says the change reflects the breadth of the museum's mission to display not only contemporary art but exhibits

The British government has launched an independent review of architecture and the built environment with aims to better shape policy to achieve high quality design. The report - expected to be complete by the end of the year - will be led by London-based architect Sir Terry Farrell with support provided by an advisory panel. In addition to the government's role in promoting quality design the review will look at

A £2.5m project to transform the visitor experience at Norfolk’s 900-year-old Wymondham Abbey is now able to go ahead due to Heritage Lottery Funding worth £1.5m. Improvements to the Grade I listed site include: two new extensions – including one within a ruined chapel; the removal of inappropriate architectural additions; a recreated medieval herb garden; and public access to county wildlife site Abbey Meadows. A full time learning and events

Preston Park Museum and Grounds has hosted an animated 3D film projected on its façade to celebrate its official re-launch following a £7m revamp. Hundreds turned up to view the night time animation, entitled Lustre, which centred around the hall and its hidden secrets. The restored museum now has a complete redisplay of its collections, an interactive Victorian street and a traditional walled kitchen garden and orchard. The Heritage Lottery

Danish design firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has been announced as the winning team to lead the first phase of the Smithsonian Campus Master Plan, in a US$2.4m (1.85m euro, £1.59m) contract. At 700,000sq ft (65,032sq m) the campus in Washington D.C., US is the world's largest museum and research complex and includes 19 museums, the National Zoological Park and nine research facilities. BIG has already revealed it hopes to

An £11.6m funding application to regenerate Shrewsbury’s eighteenth-century Flax Mill Maltings for public and commercial use will be submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) by the end of March. The site comprises seven listed buildings and includes the Main Mill, which was built in 1797 and was the world’s first iron-framed building and the forerunner of the modern skyscraper. Other buildings to be renovated include the Kiln, the Dye,