A new US$1bn (£656m, €766m) museum is being planned on the site of the former Al-Muthanna airport in Baghdad, Iraq. The museum project, proposed by the Iraqi Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, has been given the working title of The Grand Museum of Iraq. It is hoped that the new museum will display objects currently being stored in the National Museum of Iraq alongside new pieces, which have been unearthed

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

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

The city of Southampton may have its new arts complex by 2015 according to the Southampton Cultural Development Trust, which is spearheading the project. The trust says around 90 percent of the funding required for the £21m ($32m, €24m) project has already been secured with the remaining funds expected to come from private donors. Project developer Grosvenor has selected CZWG to design the mixed-use cultural scheme which will encompass 100,000

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

Aberdeen Art Gallery has revealed £30m plans to redevelop its premises, landing Heritage Lottery Fund support to progress the project. Designed by Glasgow architects Gareth Hoskins, the redevelopment would restore and modernise its buildings, bring to life its internationally significant permanent collections, expand temporary displays and enhance the visitor experience. It would also raise the prominence of the gallery's War Memorial building - the current focus of the annual Act

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 team behind London's £14.8bn rail project Crossrail has revealed plans to host permanent large-scale public art across eight stations along the 118km route. Crossrail - to be funded entirely through private sponsorship - will work with leading art organisations and commercial galleries to secure international commissions for the project, called The Cultural Line. Crossrail, due to open in 2018, will include 37 stations spanning from Maidenhead and Heathrow in

The Vatican will host a pavilion at the Venice Biennale this year - the first time in its 84-year history as an independent state. The Holy See is one of 10 new participant countries exhibiting at the international avant-garde art exhibition, with others including Tuvalu, Bahrain, the Ivory Coast and Paraguay. The Vatican exhibit will be held in the Arsenale pavilion - a former barracks that is currently being revamped.

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

Construction is now underway on an £11.5m project to create a dramatic new entrance at Glasgow's Theatre Royal and provide more public space at the venue. Earlier this year the Café Royal wing of the theatre was demolished and foundations have now been laid for the oval-shaped entrance, which will include bars, a box office, cloakrooms, toilet facilities and hospitality suites. Lifts will also be installed for the first time

The US National Gallery of Art will construct two new art wings and an outdoor sculpture terrace after securing US$30 (23.2m euro, £19.83m) in private donations. The additional 12,260sq ft (1,139sq m) of exhibition space will be constructed within the current footprint of the East Building on Washington's National Mall. Philanthropists who donated to the cause include: gallery president Victoria P. Sant and her husband Roger W. Sant; Mitchell Rales,

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,

A new interdisciplinary exhibition at New York's Museum of Design examines new design approaches in the post-millennial museum. After the Museum: The Home Front 2013 opened on 12 March and aims to get audiences reconsidering traditional notions of the structure and roles of museums through installations, digital initiatives, lectures and publications. Co-curator and manager of public programmes at the museum, Jake Yuzka, said: "Over the last on hundred years, both

Dudley Council has approved plans for three attractions at Castle Hill submitted for planning permission in January. The £10.1m plans for the Dudley Zoological Gardens, the Black Country Living Museum and the Dudley Canal Trust include a shared arrival point for visitors, a new entrance for each attraction and 600 new parking spaces and an upgraded car park. The plans, which had been shared with the public in February, received

The Heritage Lottery Fund has this week awarded £704,500 for the permanent display of the largest and most valuable Anglo-Saxon treasure ever discovered at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery. The 3,500-piece Staffordshire Hoard, which includes 7th-century gold and silver metalwork, has been on temporary display since September 2009 – two months after its discovery in a field near Lichfield. The proposed gallery will showcase approximately 300 items and interpret the

Paisley Abbey has submitted plans to Refrewshire Council for the £2m reconstruction of its fourth cloister, to house a visitor centre, café, gift shop and function space. Architects Simpson & Brown have submitted the plans, received 28 February, and state the extension will complement the existing 12th-century abbey without copying what was there. It is hoped the two-floor expansion- to be constructed of heavy masonry on the ground floor and

A major partnership between East Sussex County Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and the University of Sussex will see around 350,000 items moved from the Royal Pavilion & Museums to new historical resource centre The Keep, beginning next month. Based in Falmer the facility will house the area's archives and historical records including: maps and plans; written records; photographs and films; prints and drawings; oral histories; digital and electronic

Australia's Art Gallery of New South Wales has revealed it plans to double in size and transform itself into an art museum for the "Asian century", in time for the 150th anniversary of its founding in 2021. An international architectural competition will produce a design for the new building, which will expand northwards towards the harbour. Other improvements - part of a strategic master plan for the attraction - include

Filmmaker George Lucas has revealed his vision for a populist art museum to be built in San Francisco overlooking the Bay Area, Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. His proposal is one of 16 received by the Presidio Trust, which is overseeing the rejuvenation of the former commissary site at Crissy Field, with others proposals including an observatory, an environmental museum and a museum dedicated to the US response to

A restructure at the National Media Museum (NMeM) has contributed to the delay in the planned June opening of a new £4m Media Space at the Science Museum in London, which will now open on 21 September. The two museums – both part of the Science Museum Group – have collaborated on the new project, which will provide a gallery to showcase the National Photography Collection. According to the Museums

The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which will include the 13th US presidential library, will host an official dedication ceremony on 25 April before opening to the public on 1 May. The 226,565sq ft (21,565sq m) building, located at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, has been under construction for two years and will include a library, museum and policy institute. Set on 23 acres, including replanted trees from Bush’s

Harvard Art Museums, comprising the Fogg Museum, the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, is currently undergoing a renovation and expansion project and will reopen in Q3 2014. Designed by architect Renzo Piano, the project will bring the three museums under one roof for the first time. The new facility will feature expanded permanent collection galleries along with galleries programmed in consultation with students and faculty and flexible