Museum Design: The Latest Architecture and News

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Reacting to the influx of gargantuan, iconic museum buildings produced by China’s recent “museum boom,” MORE Architecture aimed to create an intricate, experiential space with their design for Ginkgo Gallery. The gallery, construction on which has now begun, was conceived as a humble merging of art and nature, part of a network of private museums in the Yangtze River Delta. Ginkgo Gallery also houses an auditorium and workshop space in an effort to make art a part of public life and educate children in contemporary art.

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Denmark’s natural landscape along the shoreline of Mossø lake was once home to a vibrant monastic community. All that remains are ruins and unearthed artifacts - the reminisce of an active, self-sustaining monastic compound.

Galmstrup, a London-based architecture firm that specializes in community and cultural projects, has designed a gallery building to house the excavated archaeological objects and remains on site – maintaining the strong connection between the ruins and the growing collection of artifacts.

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Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects has won an international contest for the Chengdu Natural History Museum in China, seeing off competition from firms such as Zaha Hadid Architects and FUKSAS. With a form inspired by the geological impact of shifting tectonic plates, and reflecting pools inspired by ancient irrigation systems, the scheme makes heavy reference to the surrounding natural landscape, while dominant features such as a tall central atrium form a visual connection with the built environment. Below, the architects offer their own description of the winning scheme.

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