Designing a museum is always an exciting architectural challenge. Museums often come with their own unique needs and constraints--from the art museum that needs specialist spaces for preserving works, to the huge collection that requires extensive archive space, and even the respected institution whose existing heritage building presents a challenge for any new extension. In honor of International Museum Day, we’ve selected 23 stand-out museums from our database, with each ArchDaily editor explaining what makes these buildings some of the best examples of museum architecture out there.
23 Examples of Impressive Museum Architecture
The Bear Stand / Bohlin Grauman Miller + Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
- Area: 3300 ft²
- Year: 2015
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Manufacturers: Heath Ceramics, Horst Masonry, Loewen
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Professionals: Blackwell, Switzer Sales and Service, Brinkman & Sons
AIA Names the Best Housing Projects of 2017
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has named the fourteen projects selected as recipients of the 2017 Housing Awards. Now in its 17th year, the AIA’s Housing Awards program was established to recognize "the best in housing design and promote the importance of good housing as a necessity of life." Projects are awarded in four categories: One/Two Family Custom Housing, One/Two Family Production Housing, Multifamily Housing and Special Housing.
The 2017 AIA Housing Award recipients include:
High Meadow Dwellings at Fallingwater / Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
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Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
- Area: 3025 m²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Seech Industries, Inc., Pennsylvania Slate, Zandur, Auson
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Professionals: K2 Engineering, Iams Consulting
Mountainside Stellar Residences and Townhomes / Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
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Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
- Area: 5600 ft²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Artek, Sierra Pacific Windows, western red cedar
Taubman Complex at Lawrence Tech / Morphosis Architects
VIΛ 57 West / BIG
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Architects: Bjarke Ingels Group
- Area: 830000 ft²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Fritz Hansen, Vitro®, Allstate Rubber Flooring, Construction Specialties, Energia Solar, +3
Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center / Diller Scofidio + Renfro
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Architects: Diller Scofidio + Renfro
- Area: 110000 ft²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: C.R. Laurence, Lutron, 1212 Studio, Bentley, Bilfinger, +14
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Professionals: Cerami & Associates, 2x4, Gensler, Buro Happold, Thornton Tomasetti, +10
Frick Environmental Center / Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
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Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
- Area: 15570 ft²
- Year: 2016
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Manufacturers: Ardex, Black Locust Lumber USA, Carlisle SynTec, J+J Flooring Group, Nucor Steel
Halls Ridge Knoll Guest House / Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
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Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
- Area: 1500 ft²
- Year: 2009
How the AIA's Committee on the Environment Can Ensure Its Own Obsolescence
This article by Kira Gould was originally published by Metropolis Magazine as "The Case for COTE's Obsolescence."
Recently the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment published, for the first time, a comprehensive report about the winners from the debut year (1997) through 2015: “Lessons from the Leading Edge.” Its lead author, a current COTE advisory board member, Lance Hosey, set out to review two decades of Top Ten winners as a group to see how performance is changing over time, how the winners size up (scale, cost, type), and more.
The result is a compelling report. It reveals that these high-performing projects skew small. That performance gains and metrics, particularly real-time performance metrics, are improving each year. That the leading projects tend to be expensive. On average, they come in at $537 per square foot. “The cost data shows us that we need more compelling examples of lower-cost, higher performance projects,” Hosey says. Clearly, more exemplars at greater scale, type, and cost variation would be beneficial to both the profession and the market.
The Winners for The 2016 Modernism in America Awards Have Been Announced
Docomomo US has announced the winners of its 2016 Modernism in America Awards, which honor projects around the country that highlight and advocate for the restoration of postwar architecture and landscapes.
The Modernism in America Awards is the only national program that celebrates "the people and projects working to preserve, restore and rehabilitate our modern heritage sensitively and productively. The program seeks to advance those preservation efforts; to increase appreciation for the period and to raise awareness of the on-going threats against modern architecture and design."
The 2016 Modernism in America Award winners are:
CTBUH Names Winners of 2016 Tall Building Awards
The Council on Tall Building and Urban Habitat have announced the winners of the 15th edition of the CTBUH Tall Building Awards. From over 100 submissions, the best buildings from four regions – the Americas, Asia & Australasia, Europe and Middle East & Africa – were selected, along with recipients of the Urban Habitat Award, the Innovation Award, the Performance Award and the 10 Year Award. The CTBUH will pick a global winner from the regional selections later this year.
The towers were chosen by a panel of architects from world-renowned firms and were judged on every aspect of performance, looking in particular for “those that have the greatest positive impact on the individuals who use these buildings and the cities they inhabit.”
Read on for the list of winners.
Independence Pass Residence / Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
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Architects: Bohlin Cywinski Jackson
- Area: 12550 ft²
- Year: 2014
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Professionals: PCS Structural Solutions, Bluegreen, Company K, Fisher Marantz Stone, Gordon Prill Drapes PC, +4
Robert H. Lee Alumni Centre / Hughes Condon Marler Architects + KPMB Architects
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Architects: HCMA Architecture + Design, KPMB Architects
- Area: 40000 ft²
- Year: 2015
Fritted Glass: Staple or Trend?
Discovered by archaeologists in civilizations as old as ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, fritted glass is hardly a new technology. Yet thanks to its energy-saving abilities and the smooth, gradient aesthetic it produces, fritted glass has seen a rebirth in contemporary architecture.
Frit itself is a ceramic component that can be laid out into an assortment of patterns, most typically consisting of dots or lines. These patterns can then be silk-screened onto annealed glass using frit paint. Then, the glass is fired in a tempering furnace, which strengthens and improves the safety of the glass under thermal stress. The resulting product is glass of determined transparency that, when used in building facades, can reduce solar heat gain and even make buildings more visible and less deadly for birds.
AIA Survey Shows that Non-Residential and Sustainable Construction Are Increasing
A set of reports by the AIA show an expected increase in spending on non-residential design for 2016 and 2017, as well as an emergence of more sustainable building technologies.
“Emerging technologies are becoming the dominant force in how buildings are being designed,” said AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, PhD. “Buildings in their own right are becoming far more energy efficient, and certain technologies are increasing both the efficiency of the people using the buildings and the project delivery methods in which buildings are being designed and constructed.”
AR Shortlists 15 for Women in Architecture Awards
The Architectural Review (AR) has unveiled the candidates for its 2016 Woman Architect of the Year and the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture awards. Tatiana Bilbao, Jeanne Gang, Kazuyo Sejima and Charlotte Skene Catling are all being considered as the woman of the year for their impact and ability to inspire change within the profession.
Eleven women are being considered for the Moira Gemmill Prize for Emerging Architecture prize for their "use of innovative architecture to effect positive social change." Read on to see them all.