Cultural: The Latest Architecture and News

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For those familiar with the more canonical work of Bernard Tschumi, the Limoges Concert Hall may seem a puzzlingly conventional departure from the radical, intensively theoretical projects that introduced the world to the Swiss architect. In one sense, the visual clarity of the design doesn’t provoke the same complex discourses on architectural violence and eroticism that guided his early-career pursuits, and it is certainly a more functional evolution of his polemic on non-programmatic space that was famously exhibited at Parc de la Villete. In another sense, the concept and form of Limoges aren't anything novel, either, emerging almost in its entirety from a concert hall prototype Tschumi developed in the late 1990s for a similar venue at Rouen. But Limoges is important for other reasons: in addition to its thoughtful material and spatial choices, it is one of the more articulate illustrations of Tschumi’s explorations of movement and enclosure—“vectors and envelopes”—that inform much of his recent work.

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Neutelings Riedijk Architects have revealed the final design for the expansion and renovation of the Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, the Netherlands. With construction set to begin in October 2015, the rejuvenation scheme will see the renovation of 20,000m2 of the existing museum and the construction of an additional 19,000m2.

 Learn more about the project and view selected images after the break.

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Davis Brody Bond's plan to expand Baltimore's National Great Blacks in Wax Museum has been approved. As the Baltimore Business Journal reports, the $75 million overhaul hopes to foresee a significant increase in attendance, bringing in more than 500,000 visitors annually.

A destination for both tourists and locals, the expanded museum will open itself to the surrounding community beyond normal operating hours. It will house a multi-purpose space, retail, orientation theatre, changing gallery and educational programs as well as the museum and a bus drop-off on the main thoroughfare. 

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