Architecture and design news:
museums & heritage
Re-discovered Shakespeare Theatre to provide cultural heart of £750m London mixed-use scheme
by Kim Megson | 09 Feb 2016
The Elizabethan theatre where William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and Henry V were performed for the first time is at the centre of a new £750m (US$1bn, €968.7m) mixed-use destination for London. The historic remains of The Curtain Theatre, which dates back to 1577, were discovered buried three metres beneath a disused Victorian goods yard earmarked for development in 2011. The Curtain was home to Shakespeare’s Theatre Company and the
Groundbreaking ceremony held for Foster + Partners' Norton Museum of Art in Florida
by Kim Megson | 08 Feb 2016
A groundbreaking ceremony has been held for the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida. British architects Foster + Partners are expanding the existing Art Deco-inspired museum – which opened in 1941 – adding 12,000sq ft (1,100sq m) in gallery space and creating a new entrance to regain the symmetry of the building’s original east-west axial arrangement. Three new double-height pavilions made of white stone will house a
Reimagined Helsinki City Museum sets May opening date
by Tom Anstey | 05 Feb 2016
Helsinki City Museum in Finland has announced an opening date of May 2016, following an €11m (US$12.3m, £8.4m) 18-month refurbishment of its premises, the most extensive transformation in the museum’s 105-year history. Moving from its current home within Helsinki’s historical district to a new location in Senate Square, the museum will be made up of a group of five historical buildings surrounding three inner courtyards, opening up spaces never previously
Lost Viking shield inspires competition-winning design for landmark Danish exhibition centre
by Kim Megson | 04 Feb 2016
When Copenhagen studio PLH Arkitekter decided to enter a design competition for an experience and knowledge centre at a historic Danish Viking site, they had a particularly creative idea: to build it in the image of a Viking shield. The studio’s design for the centre in Trelleborg – a Viking ring castle that is one of Scandinavia’s most important Viking monuments – subsequently won the competition, and will now be
Opening date announced for National Museum of African American History and Culture
by Kim Megson | 04 Feb 2016
The Smithsonian has announced the National Museum of African American History and Culture will be opened by US President Barack Obama on 24 September 2016. The opening ceremony will be the focus of a week-long celebration, which will include a three-day festival showcasing popular music, literature, dance and film.
It's official! We open on 9/24/2016. Learn more about us here: https://t.co/kSSQR82sfO #SaveTheDate #BuildNMAAHC pic.twitter.com/seTkzsXqC1 — Smithsonian NMAAHC
Rock music, architecture and design collide in MVRDV's mixed-use masterplan for Ragnarock
by Kim Megson | 03 Feb 2016
The transformation of a former industrial site in Danish city Roskilde into a new home for rock and roll will be complete by April this year, CLAD has learned. The Danish Rock Museum, the headquarters of the annual Roskilde Rock Festival and the Roskilde Festival Folk Music School will soon all be housed in one new complex, called Ragnarock. The facilities will be located inside renovated factory buildings with new
Robot-built pavilion will take centre stage as V&A explores the future of engineering
by Kim Megson | 03 Feb 2016
Visitors to the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London this May will be able to explore a garden pavilion inspired by nature and fabricated by robots in front of their eyes. The Elytra Filament Pavilion – created by experimental architects Achim Menges and Moritz Dörstelmann in collaboration with engineers Jan Knippers and Thomas Auer – will launch a special Engineering Season at the museum. The installation will explore the
Escobedo Solíz win prestigious MoMA young architects contest
by Kim Megson | 02 Feb 2016
The Museum of Modern Art in New York has announced Mexican design practice Escobedo Solíz Studio as the winner of its annual Young Architects Program (YAP). The design competition, now in its 17th year, challenges the winner to develop an innovative and sustainable design for a temporary outdoor installation providing shade, seating and water at MoMA’s sister institution, MoMA PS1, in Long Island City. Escobedo Solíz Studio’s winning project, Weaving
Science and Natural History museums enter preliminary discussions for west London sites
by Tom Anstey | 02 Feb 2016
Both London’s Science Museum and Natural History Museum have confirmed they are in preliminary discussions about opening satellite sites as part of the multi-billion pound Old Oak Common redevelopment in west London. The 30-year Old Oak development plan – conceived as the UK’s largest regeneration project with around 1.35sq km (0.52sq miles) of available space – will include a litany of new leisure projects including a possible new 40,000-capacity home
Yves Saint Laurent museums to open in Paris and Marrakech
by Kim Megson | 29 Jan 2016
The foundation dedicated to conserving the work of legendary French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent has revealed two new museums dedicated to his life and career will open in France and Morocco in 2017. The Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent will showcase part of its vast collection of accessories, haute couture garments, sketches, collection boards, photographs and objects collected by Saint Laurent between 1962 and 2002. “To this day, this
New York MoMA unveils revised US$445m expansion plans
by Tom Anstey | 29 Jan 2016
New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has unveiled revised US$445m (€407.3m, £310.6m) plans to redevelop and expand the facility, with plans by Diller Scofidio + Renfro streamlining the museum experience to work better for both visitors and curators. The expansion of facilities, expected to be complete by 2020, will increase gallery space by 30 per cent – an increase of 40,000sq ft (3,716sq m) to 174,000sq ft (16,165sq m).
David Chipperfield museum by the Taj Mahal breaks ground
by Kim Megson | 28 Jan 2016
The foundation stone for David Chipperfield’s Mughal Museum building in Agra, India, has been laid near the eastern gate of the Taj Mahal. The museum – which will be dedicated to the history and culture of Northern India's Mughal dynasty – will accommodate 5,200sq m (55,972sq ft) permanent and temporary exhibition space, according to Chipperfield’s studio. The first rendering for the museum suggests it will be formed by a series
Diller Scofidio + Renfro's Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive ready to welcome public
by Kim Megson | 28 Jan 2016
The new home of the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAM/PFA) will officially launch to the public on Sunday (31 January) with an all-day open house. Designed by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R), the project integrates a pre-existing 48,000sq ft (4,459sq m) art deco building – the former 1939 printing plant of the neighbouring UC Berkeley – with a new 35,000sq ft (2,251sq m)
EXCLUSIVE: Designers for Singapore's relaunched National Gallery present history through art
by Tom Anstey | 27 Jan 2016
The exhibition designers of Singapore’s recently relaunched National Gallery have laid out the idea behind the concept – a walk through time using the medium of art to tell the story of Singapore and southeast Asia. The gallery, which opened its doors to the public at the end of last year, was a collaboration between several architects and design studios. Working closely with its studio in Paris and with architect
Competition News: David Adjaye, Henning Larsen and Caruso St John in the frame to design landmark Latvia museum
by Kim Megson | 27 Jan 2016
Seven international architecture studios have been shortlisted to design the landmark new home for the Latvian Museum of Contemporary Art in Riga. Henning Larsen Architects, Caruso St John, Neutelings Riedijk and Adjaye Associates are among the big names in contention for the €30m (US$32.6m, £22.8m) project to create “a cultural and arts centre of interregional significance.” “Creating a museum, which can compete with others around the world is a specialised
Swiss National Museum to open long-awaited scuptural extension
by Kim Megson | 27 Jan 2016
A museum extension nearly 15 years in the making will finally be completed when the Swiss National Museum in Zurich opens its new wing to the public on 1 August 2016. The new wing is formed by a modern and minimalist geometric volume designed by Basel practice Christ & Gantenbein. It was commissioned following an international design competition in 2002, but a period of consultation and political negotiation followed and
Art you can touch, taste and smell: Designers explore how multi-sensory spaces can create personal experiences
by Tom Anstey | 27 Jan 2016
Peter Law, creative producer at design collective Flying Object and creator of Tate Britain’s IK Prize-winning Sensorium, has outlined how multi-sensory spaces can be used to create unique personal experiences. Sensorium – which utilised experts in sound, taste, scent and touch, combined with lighting and theatre elements – ran until September 2015 at the Tate Britain in London as a multi-sensory experience centred around four famous artworks. "We had an
Opening this week: Two exhibitions explore how architects can change the world
by Kim Megson | 26 Jan 2016
Two major exhibitions open in London this week exploring how architects can change the world in different ways. Creation from Catastrophe, which opens on 27 January at the Architecture Gallery of the Royal Institute of British Architects, will explore how destruction and devastation present unique opportunities to radically rethink environments. With a focus on architects as diverse as OMA, Toyo Ito, Sir Christopher Wren and Elemental – whose founder Alejandro
Take a virtual tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's iconic Guggenheim Museum
by Kim Megson | 26 Jan 2016
Visitors unable to travel to New York can now explore the famous interior architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum thanks to Google Street View. As part of a collaboration between the museum and the Google Cultural Institute, anyone with an internet connection can take a 360-degree look at the building’s famous circular galleries, spiralling ramps and oculus. In addition, 127 artworks from the museum’s collection are also
EXCLUSIVE: Frost Science Museum CEO confident Miami project will complete despite funding battle
by Kim Megson | 25 Jan 2016
The president and CEO of Miami’s Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science has insisted the high-profile relocation of the museum to its “next generation” new home on Miami’s waterfront will be completed despite a US$45m (£31.3m, €41.5m) shortfall in funding. The museum’s new three-storey facility – designed by Grimshaw Architects – is entering the final construction phase four years after work first began. However, the project has received less
Heneghan Peng win international design competition for Canadian Canoe Museum
by Kim Megson | 25 Jan 2016
Irish architects Heneghan Peng have won the international design competition for new Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario with their plan for a winding glass pavilion on the Trent-Severn waterway. The new US$45m (€41.6m, £31.5m) building – described as “a Canadian game changer” by the museum board – will be located on an early 20th century boat lift and will house the world’s largest collection of canoes and kayaks. There
Floating, saw-toothed photo gallery being built in North Vancouver
by Kim Megson | 22 Jan 2016
Ground has broken on a landmark cultural building in North Vancouver, Canada. Currently being developed on a new waterfront plaza, the Polygon Gallery will display the country's largest collection of independent photography and host Canadian and international art exhibitions, public events and art education programmes. The project, which is set to open in 2017, has been designed by Canadian studio Patkau Architects. The 23,000sq ft (2,100sq m) building will feature
EXCLUSIVE: Bold postmodern Ha Long Bay museum completed in Vietnam
by Kim Megson | 21 Jan 2016
A vast collection of historical artefacts telling the story of northern Vietnam through the ages has been put on public display in a new museum in the country’s famous Ha Long Bay. The VND900m (US$40m, €36.6m, £28.2m) Quang Ninh Museum was completed in late 2013 to mark the 50th founding anniversary of Quang Ninh province, and the exhibits have been installed over the last two years, with work now finally
Israel Museum tree house reinvigorates public meeting space
by Kate Corney | 21 Jan 2016
Architects Ifat Finkelman and Deborah Warschawski have created an wooden-slatted tree house as part of a courtyard renewal project at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. The entrance courtyard renovation at The Youth Wing for Art Education, Israel Museum Jerusalem uses a large pine tree as the central focus. The roofed tree house, which is illuminated at night, is made of a series of wooden boards attached to a light steel
Schmidt hammer lassen win design competition for major mixed-use cultural project in Shanghai
by Kim Megson | 20 Jan 2016
Danish architecture studio schmidt hammer lassen architects have won an international competition to design a new cultural home for the city of Shanghai, China. The studio will preserve and expand the 1950s West Shanghai Worker’s Cultural Palace – a popular activity centre for union workers and city-dwellers – for the Shanghai Labour Union and the district government. Their winning proposal features multiple cultural facilities, including a theatre, cinema, art and
Controversial resort on site of former concentration camp gets green light in Montenegro
by Kim Megson | 19 Jan 2016
A former fortress and concentration camp on an island in Montenegro is set to be turned into a luxury resort and spa after a controversial planning proposal was accepted by the government. Local news reports state that the five-star development – located on Lastavica Island, better known as Mamula, in the Adriatic Sea – will include a hotel complete with a marina, wine bar, restaurant, VIP terrace, open air dance
Public consultations planned for Bjarke Ingels' Europa City
by Kim Megson | 18 Jan 2016
France’s National Commission for Public Debate will host a series of open discussions about the development of Bjarke Ingels’ Europa City masterplan; one of the largest ongoing leisure developments on the continent. From 15 March to 30 June, Europa City’s developers and the commission will conduct a “real-time exchange and reflection” with residents of the Parisian suburbs close to the development site. Professionals from the world of culture, tourism and
Winning design unveiled for Islamic faith museum in Mecca
by Kim Megson | 18 Jan 2016
London studio Mossessian Architecture have won an invited competition to design a museum of the Islamic faith in Mecca (known locally as Makkah), Saudi Arabia. The firm have partnered with French exhibition architects Studio Adeline Rispal to work on the project in Islam’s most sacred city. The museum – located 7km from the city’s Grand Holy Mosque – will explore the history and practice of Islam and the life of
Brutalist landmark reinvented as giant arts and hotel complex in Israel
by Kim Megson | 15 Jan 2016
An iconic brutalist building on Israel’s Mediterranean coast has been transformed into a vast arts complex featuring a hotel, galleries, concert halls, restaurant, spa and wellness centre. The 1960s structure – formerly known as the Mivtachim Sanitarium – is formed by a series of modular, concrete units located on Mount Carmel Ridge in the village of Zichron Ya’akov. It was was created by the late Israeli architect Ya’akov Rechter, who
Museum of London announces architecture competition
by Kim Megson | 14 Jan 2016
The Museum of London has officially started its search for an architect to design its proposed new home inside a vacant Victorian market. Design competition organiser Malcolm Reading Consultants has been appointed to lead the search. A two-stage contest will begin in February 2016. A panel will be selected to create a shortlist and the winning architect will be announced by the end of Q2 2016. The museum and the
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