ahead of international museum day, explores the year’s top museum and gallery unveilings

designboom celebrates international museum day

As we prepare to celebrate International Museum Day on 18th March, designboom rounds up a selection of highlights from the year while spotlighting some of the most anticipated upcoming unveilings. This year’s theme, set forth by the International Council of Museums (ICOM), is Museums for Education and Research. Through an array of events and activities, participating cultural institutions will together explore their crucial role in cultivating cultural exchange, creativity, critical thinking, and the inclusive proliferation of knowledge. Many, such as the Louvre Abu Dhabi are also welcoming art enthusiasts with free entry for a period of time.

From art and history to science and technology, we see how museums and galleries across the world are vital platforms enriching and shaping our understanding of the world. In southern Norway, a functional grain silo has been transformed into a cultural venue celebrating Nordic art. Meanwhile in Vietnam, a pottery museum honors ceramic craftsmanship and the history of the Bat Trang village, underscoring the importance of preserving heritage and culture. We also await expansions of the Lucas Museum and the Broad in Los Angeles as they prepare to accommodate their growing collections while hosting more extensive public programmings.

Fortress House Museum by Gamma Architects in Gibraltar | rendering © Gamma Architects | read more here

museums and art galleries unveiled throughout the year

ZAISHUI ART MUSEUM by JUNYA ISHIGAMI

designboom speaks with Japanese architect Junya Ishigami, whose latest project, the Zaishui Art Museum in Rizhao, tackles one of China’s most intriguing phenomenon. When faced with the Chinese landscape, its vast and boundless fabric can pose a daunting architectural challenge. Competing with its immense environment is undoubtedly tricky, argues Ishigami. In light of these conditions, Ishigami completes the museum as a long piece of architecture, identical in scale to the artificial lake over which it hovers. Stretching around a kilometer from end to end, the building evokes a streak of wind brushing over water. ‘I wanted to present the building as a new landscape, embedding it into the Chinese environment to create the experience of walking through the lake — similarly to walking on the beach, where people can feel the essence of water,’ the architect tells designboom. Read the full interview as Junya Ishigami discusses his vision and ambitious design for the Zaishui Art Museum, presented as a new landscape experience over water.

image © Arch-Exist Photography | read more here

design space alula by gìo forma architects

Giò Forma completes this Design Space AlUla as a vibrant hub for the creative community of the historic AlJadidah district of AlUla, Saudi Arabia. The Milanese architecture studio designs this landmark building as both a gallery and a catalyst for dialogue, collaboration, and innovation. Recognized as once by its luminous facade of patterned steel, the project first began in 2021, when Samantha Cotterell, then Executive Design Director of The Royal Commission for AlUla, sought a partner to bring the Design Space to life. Giò Forma, along with Black Engineering, were chosen to develop the concept and support the design-build process. Their collaboration aimed to create a space that both showcased design initiatives and fostered connections between local and international creatives.

image © Shoayb Khattab | read more here

kunstsilo MUSEUM by Mestres Wåge Arquitectes, BAX, and Mendoza Partida

A new museum of Nordic Art will open tomorrow to the public in Kristiansand, Southern Norway. Kunstsilo, an expansive three floor, 8,500 square-meter building, emerges on the waterfront in the peninsula of Odderøya, and integrates for the first time the Southern Norway Art Museum and the prestigious Tangen Collection of Nordic art, making it the largest of its kind in the region. Mestres Wåge Arquitectes, BAX, and Mendoza Partida have undertaken this extensive heritage preservation project which transforms the functionalist grain silo, designed in 1935 by architects Arne Korsmo and Sverre Aasland, into a cultural venue.

image © Alan Williams | read more here

zhuhai jinwan civic art center by zaha hadid architects

After more than two years of development, the Zhuhai Jinwan Civic Art Centre by Zaha Hadid Architects is now complete and inaugurated in China. This major new cultural venue involves the integration of four distinct institutions: a 1,200-seat grand theater; a 500-seat multi-functional hall, a science center; and an art museum. Arranged symmetrically, the venues are connected by a central plaza that serves as a shared external foyer surrounded by glazed walls that promote transparency and a sense of openness. It is at the heart of Aviation New City, an urbanisation with a built area of 4.78 million sqm housing 100,000 residents and incorporating new civic, cultural, academic and commercial infrastructure within Zhuhai’s Jinwan district.

image © Virgile Simon Bertrand | read more here

bat trang pottery museum of ceramic art by 1+1>2 architects

Since the 11th century, the Bat Trang village in Vietnam has stood as a hub for ceramic and pottery craftsmanship. It is home to a distinct style of porcelain — a legacy forged through generations of local artisans who have developed unique decorative techniques and glazes. Many households today remain actively involved in this exceptional pottery craft, with many efforts made to empower and ensure its cultural continuity. Standing as a testament to this legacy is 1+1>2 Architects’ design for the Bat Trang Pottery Museum that showcases artisans’ work, retells the village’s history, and invites people to learn about the different materials and techniques involved in pottery-making. During the design process, the team organized meetings with pottery experts, local artisans, and villagers to discuss the museum plans and program, resulting in a large and interactive open space on top of commercial functions that support the community’s livelihood.

image © Trieu Chien | read more here

yayoi kusama gallery by MACh Arquitectos and Rizoma Arquitetura

New photography has been captured of the Yayoi Kusama Gallery, which has been completed this year by studios MACh Arquitectos and Rizoma Arquitetura. Hidden amongst the trees at the contemporary art center Instituto Inhotim in Brumadinho, Brazil, the gallery is dedicated to housing two iconic installations by the renowned Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama at Inhotim: ‘I am here but nothing’ and ‘Aftermath of obliteration of eternity.’ The challenge for the architects was not just to shelter these artworks, but to address the inevitable long waiting lines formed by visitors. See designboom’s coverage of the project’s completion here.

image © Leonardo Finotti | read more here

recently-unveiled and anticipated openings

centro de arte moderna gulbenkian by kengo kuma associate architects

Kengo Kuma and Associates announce the opening of the Centro de Arte Moderna (CAM) Gulbenkian in Lisbon, Portugal on September 20th, 2024, five years after the architecture team started working on the renovation. The modern art museum is undergoing the final touches, with its architecture nestled within the grounds of Lisbon’s Gulbenkian Foundation, a multidisciplinary campus comprising 1960s buildings in an 18-acre woodland, representing the legacy of the collector and philanthropist, Calouste Gulbenkian. CAM is scheduled to open with a three-day live arts program, and the exhibitions will be free to visit and open to the public during the first month.

lucas museum of narrative art by mad architects

Los Angeles’ Exposition Park is undergoing a significant transformation as the MAD Architects-designed Lucas Museum continues to take shape (see visualizations of the project here). Spearheaded by filmmaker George Lucas, the curving volume is sculptural and complex as it rises from the ground in stark contrast to the more traditional structures that surround it. An important aspect of the overall masterplan is its commitment to creating a shaded, green oasis. Previously dominated by parking lots, the area will be reborn as a walkable, landscaped gathering place amongst the car-centric city. Over two-hundred new trees have already been planted on the site surrounding the museum, overseen by landscape architect Mia Lehrer, with a focus on native and drought-tolerant species. This transformation prioritizes people over cars, creating a much-needed green space for the community of South LA. designboom visited the Lucas Museum to explore the ongoing project, step inside to see the building take shape.

teamlab phenomena by teamlab architects

The teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi, a vast 17,000-square-meter experiential art space in Saadiyat Cultural District, has reached 70% completion. Created as part of a collaboration between teamLab, the Department of Culture and Tourism, and the Miral Group, the venue is conceived as a ‘home to infinite curiosity’. The reinforced concrete structure is now fully complete, while the construction of the artwork spaces is underway, with the entire building scheduled to be finished in 2024. The project introduces a new art concept called Environmental Phenomena, in which visitors are invited to explore a fresh perspective on our world. The artworks within this new art space aren’t independent; instead, they are created by the environment, which triggers various phenomena (read more in our previous coverage here). ‘A key characteristic of teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi is the environment and the various phenomena created by it. The environment stabilizes the structure of these phenomena, and the stabilized phenomena become the artworks themselves,’ explains teamLab, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between art and environment in this project. The collective is also set to open teamLab Borderless Jeddah in Saudi Arabia this summer.

THE BROAD BY DILLER SCOFIDIO + RENFRO

The Broad announces plans for an expansion led by the building’s original architects, Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS+R). In addition to doubling the museum’s gallery space and enhancing access to its growing collection, the new building will provide flexibility for live programming and enable the public to move among artwork storage racks for the first time, getting continually new perspectives on the collection. Founded in 2015 with a mandate from philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad to build a large audience for contemporary art, the museum has far exceeded its own projections, having welcomed more than 5.5 million visitors to date and now regularly attracting nearly four times more visitors than originally envisioned.