The Museum of Modern Electronic Music (MOMEM) is nearing completion in Frankfurt, Germany, and is turning up the volume on the plans with the launch of a pop-up museum this April ahead of a full launch at a later date. The museum was conceived to tell the story of the electronic music movement and its impact on youth culture – as art, design, fashion and technology – throughout Europe from

The executive director of the Arkansas Arts Center (AAC), situated in Little Rock’s historic MacArthur Park, has announced details of a striking expansion for the attraction, designed by architects Studio Gang. Todd Herman revealed that 127,000sq ft (11,800sq m) of renovated and new spaces will be created for the centre to strengthen the connections between the visual and performing arts in an inclusive space that welcomes a diverse community. “This

A planning application has been submitted for a classic car museum in Oxfordshire, UK, with American vintage car collector and philanthropist Peter Mullin behind the £35m (US$48m, €39.5m) plans. Mullin, founder of the M Financial Group and Chairman of its subsidiary, M Financial Holdings, is an avid car collector, establishing in 2010, the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, California and also serving as the President of the American Bugatti Club.

In a bid to protect its World Heritage status, the City of Liverpool and Historic England have drawn up a heritage action plan, created to navigate the threat posed by a proposed development of the city’s waterfront, which could see it struck from the Unesco register. Granted outline planning permission in 2013, the £5.5bn (US$7.7bn, €6.22bn) Liverpool Waters 30-year development scheme from The Peel Group would “undoubtedly cause substantial harm

The RIBA Stirling Prize-winning Hastings Pier, designed by architecture studio dRMM, has been put up for sale. Property agent GVA has been instructed to offer the iconic structure to the market after the Hastings Pier Charity, which runs the asset, entered administration in November 2017. The 280m-long (918ft), Grade II listed Victorian pier, originally opened in 1872, was virtually destroyed by fire in 2010, but was eventually rebuilt by dRMM

Rem Koolhaas and OMA’s plans to renovate the largest museum building in Russia have been unveiled. The New Tretyakov Gallery houses an extensive and important collection of Russian art, including work from Malevich, Kandinsky, Chagall, and Soviet artists such as Aleksandr Deyneka and Vera Mukhina. The 61,000sq m (657,600sq ft) building, which includes multiple exhibition halls, was originally designed by architects N.P. Sukoyan and Y.N. Sheverdyaev in the 1960s, and

An interactive museum dedicated to the art of spycraft, designed by the studio of David Adjaye, opens in New York tomorrow (16 February) – “empowering visitors to seek the truth, form their own opinions and question everything.” Guests will enter the enigmatic world of code-breakers, spycatchers, hackers and undercover agents at SPYSCAPE, which has been developed in collaboration with investigative journalists, former directors of intelligence agencies and station chiefs. Conceived

Three firms have been commissioned to develop a “world-class” Science City attraction in central Patna, India. Exhibition designer GSM Project, architect Flying Elephant Studio and project management firm Gleeds have been selected for the project by the government of Bihar following a call for tender. The 30,000sq m (323,000sq ft) Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Science City, named after India’s former president, will promote “the past, the present and

A formal opening has been held for the Sheikh Abdullah Al Salem Cultural Centre (SAASCC) in Kuwait – a mammoth cultural district for the country described as the largest museum project in the world. A dramatic light show on Monday (5 February) marked the launch of the attraction, which has been designed by local architects SSH and British creative agency Cultural Innovations. Situated on a 13-hectare site in the Al-Sha’ab

London’s Westminster Abbey, one of the UK’s most visited tourist attractions, is undergoing work on a new museum, marking the first addition to the visitor experience at the historic site since 1745. The £23m (US$32m, €26m) museum, named the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Galleries, will be located inside the triforium – a loft-like space above the arches of the nave of a church – some 70ft (21m) above the Abbey's floor.

London’s National Portrait Gallery has appointed architecture firms Jamie Fobert and Purcell to deliver the British institution’s £35.5m (US$50.2m, €40.2m) transformation. Called ‘Inspiring People: Transforming our National Portrait Gallery,’ the plans from the London-based practices mark the largest ever development for the Victorian-era National Portrait Gallery since it opened in 1896. The decision follows an international selection process to find the best candidates, with Jamie Fobert – who recently celebrated

British architecture studio SimpsonHaugh have completed a renovation of one of Belgium’s most important cultural landmarks, the Queen Elisabeth Hall in Antwerp. The concert venue had its soft launch over a year ago – and has since picked up a nomination for Cultural Building of the Year – but has only just officially opened. It is located within the Elisabeth Centre, a 19th-century Art Nouveau cultural complex that includes Antwerp

The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) has announced it will prioritise the care and conservation of the only three museums designed by the legendary Le Corbusier. As part of its Conserving Modern Architecture Initiative, the CGI will host two workshops in India, where two of the three museums are located – the Sanskar Kendra Museum in Ahmedabad and the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh. The third, the National Museum

Sweden’s National Heritage Board has hit out at David Chipperfield's proposed design for the Nobel Center headquarters and museum in Stockholm. The project, first announced in 2014, has navigated a complex series of legal challenges, with its opponents taking issue with its size and close proximity to many of the Swedish capital’s oldest landmarks and museums. Even the country’s king has voiced his doubts over its proposed location on the

The National Museum of African American History and Culture has been named the design of 2017 by London’s Design Museum, making it only the second building to receive the accolade. The project, shortlisted after winning the architecture of the year category, was chosen ahead of a stair-climbing wheelchair, an ink manufactured from air pollution and a high-performance hijab by Nike. Designed by Adjaye Associates, The Freelon Group, Davis Brody Bond

Design initiative Young Architects Competitions (YAC) has joined forces with the Italian government to launch ‘Art Prison’, an ideas contest for the refurbishment of a fortress on a remote island in southern Sicily. The fortress of Santa Caterina stands over the peak of Favignana, an isle in the Mediterranean Sea. It was once a prison but has stood abandoned for more than a century. Over time, it has become a

German architect Ole Scheeren has completed the much-anticipated Guardian Art Center on the doorstep of Beijing’s historic Forbidden City. The building is a hybrid cultural institution, featuring museum galleries, conservation facilities, restaurants and a hotel. It also claims to have the world’s first custom-built auction house. The centre’s lower portion is a series of nested stone volumes that echo the scale and materiality of the adjacent traditional hutong courtyard houses,

V&A Dundee, Scotland’s first design museum, will open to the public on Saturday 15 September 2018, it has been revealed. New images of the Kengo Kuma-designed building have been released to coincide with the announcement, as have details of the museum’s inaugural exhibitions. Standing at the centre of the £1bn (US$1.3bn, €1.1bn) transformation of the city’s waterfront, once part of the docklands, V&A Dundee has been designed to evoke the

Kengo Kuma’s extensive pipeline of public projects just got even longer, with his firm winning an international competition to design an aquatics centre on an artificial quay in Copenhagen’s harbour. The municipality has selected Kengo Kuma Associates to create the 5,000sq m (53,800sq ft) Danish Water Culture Center, ahead of four other shortlisted teams – BIG, 3XN Architects, AART Architects and ALA Architects. The project will be built on Christiansholm

A science museum in Suzhou, China, is to act as the centrepiece of a new cultural district in the city, with the design celebrating nature while highlighting the role of industrial development. Taking inspiration from its surroundings, the 600,000sq ft (56,000sq m) Suzhou Science & Technology Museum is inspired by the Chinese expression of "shan sui", which means “union of mountain and lake”. Forming an infinity loop, the Perkins+Will-designed building

The creative director of Gucci has opened a restaurant, museum and gift shop dedicated to the luxury fashion house – in a 14th-century Florentine palace. Alessandro Michele decided to open the attraction, called Gucci Garden, as a fun and accessible introduction to the brand and “a hypnotic territory that alters the state of consciousness and perception". The attraction spans three floors within the Palazzo della Mercanzia, which previously housed a

Architect Theoni Xanthi has told CLADglobal how her team's vision for the national archaeology museum in Cyprus was inspired by “the materials that gave birth to Cypriot and Mediterranean culture”. The partner at Greek studio XZA Architects is leading the design of New Cyprus Museum – a project the firm won the project in a two-stage international competition held last year. Housing the nation’s treasures, the €49m (US$58.7m, £43.6m) building

Former US president Barack Obama has provided an update on his Presidential Center, promising to “create a campus for active citizenship in the heart of Chicago’s South Side”. The design, which was unveiled in May last year, has been created by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects in partnership with Interactive Design Architects (IDEA). According to Obama and his wife, Michelle, the US$350m (€293m, £259.5m) Presidential Center – which is now

Bath Rugby moved a step closer to its new home as the Stadium for Bath project confirmed Grimshaw as lead architect. The project brings together Bath Rugby, Bath Rugby Foundation and Arena 1865 to develop the new stadium in the City of Bath, a certified UNESCO World Heritage Site. Globally renowned architecture firm Grimshaw will begin developing designs for the 18,000-capacity stadium, which will replace Bath Rugby’s facilities at the

The National Railway Museum in York has said its £50m (US$67.6m, €56.7m) masterplan still is still being finalised, following local reports revealing new details about the institution’s redevelopment. Marking the most significant redevelopment since its opening in 1975, the museum’s seven-year masterplan hinges on the wider development of the 178-acre (720,000sq m) York Central brownfield site. Designated an Enterprise Zone in 2015, the site’s regeneration will help fund the museum’s

The Pritzker-winning architect Shigeru Ban has completed the dramatic Mount Fuji World Heritage Center in Japan’s Yamanashi prefecture, with a design that mimics the famous dormant volcano. Located 20 miles southwest of the natural landmark, Ban’s 3,400sq m (36,500sq ft) facility is formed by an inverted latticed timber cone, that appears mountainous when seen in the large reflecting pool at the front of the complex. Inside, exhibitions tell the story

The world’s largest frame has opened in Dubai, offering a surreal and symbolic perspective of the emirate’s architectural landmarks. The structure, which measures 150m (492ft) high and 93m (305ft) wide, is formed of two towers in Zabeel Park. The towers are connected by a 100sq m (1,076sq ft) bridge located 48 storeys above the ground, from which visitors can observe the surrounding cityscape. At ground level, the resultant rectangle frames