Museums: The Latest Architecture and News

Snøhetta, in collaboration with the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), has won the international competition to design the Beijing Art Museum in Tongzhou District, Beijing. The project officially broke ground on December 31, 2025, with completion and public opening anticipated in 2029. Conceived as a new landmark for the eastern part of the city, the museum will form part of Tongzhou's cultural and civic development strategy as Beijing's sub-center. The commission marks Snøhetta's second major cultural project in the Chinese capital, following the Beijing Library, which opened to the public in 2023 and has since become a key reference for contemporary civic architecture in the city.

A new museum dedicated to the science of carbon fiber opened in Fiorenzuola d'Arda, Italy, on December 17, 2025. The project dates back to 2021 and was designed by CRA–Carlo Ratti Associati in collaboration with the late Italian architect Italo Rota. Commissioned by MAE, a manufacturer of equipment for carbon fiber production, the project transforms one of the world's largest archives on carbon fiber into a dynamic museum, uniting research with archival preservation and turning the archive into a space for interactive exploration. The project is described by its designers as a "living museum," a place to read, inquire, and connect ideas.

+ 12

The future Las Vegas Museum of Art (LVMA) will be the city's first stand-alone museum, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kéré. In fall 2024, the City of Las Vegas granted LVMA two acres of land in Symphony Park, neighboring the city's downtown arts district, as part of a public-private partnership. The project is intended to serve the city's more than 2.4 million year-round residents, including nearly 300,000 students living within a 10-mile radius of the park, as well as tens of millions of visitors from around the globe. The 60,000-square-foot building was designed by Kéré Architecture, which teamed up with Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) to provide Las Vegas with "a gathering place for community and a beacon for the cultural world," and is scheduled to open in 2029.

+ 1

This week's architectural news reflects a broad engagement with how institutions, practitioners, and cultural platforms are positioning themselves in relation to both legacy and long-term change. Across museums, galleries, and major cultural events, architecture is being framed as an evolving public infrastructure, one that must respond to expanding collections, shifting curatorial models, and growing expectations around accessibility, sustainability, and civic presence. Alongside these institutional developments, professional recognitions and appointments have foregrounded practices rooted in site specificity, conservation, and critical research, highlighting architecture's role in mediating between historical contexts and contemporary needs.

+ 7

Kistefos Museum has announced Swiss architectural practice Christ & Gantenbein as the winner of its international design competition for a new museum building at the Kistefos site in Jevnaker, approximately one hour north of Oslo. Conceived as a significant new addition to one of Europe's leading sculpture parks and cultural destinations, the project is scheduled to open in 2031 and will house the art collection of Kistefos founder and collector Christen Sveaas through the Christen Sveaas Art Foundation. Following the announcement, Christ & Gantenbein will now work with Kistefos Museum to further develop the concept design toward realization.

Following the news of Frank Gehry's passing at age 96, renewed attention has been directed toward a career that significantly shaped architectural discourse from the late 20th century onward. Over more than seven decades, Gehry developed a design language defined by material experimentation, iterative model-making, and an interest in fluid, expressive forms. His work ranges from early residential interventions in Southern California to major cultural institutions that have contributed to the identity of cities around the world. Together, these projects outline a trajectory that intersected with shifts in fabrication technologies, museum typologies, and urban redevelopment strategies.

+ 8

Zayed National Museum, the national museum of the United Arab Emirates and a major anchor of Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Cultural District, has opened to the public. The project was awarded to Foster + Partners following a 2007 design competition, with construction commencing the following year. Its inauguration marks a significant moment in the UAE's cultural development, coinciding with a year that saw the opening of teamLab Phenomena Abu Dhabi and the Natural History Museum Abu Dhabi, as well as the reopening of Al Ain Museum, broadening the region's institutional landscape.

+ 11

On November 20, 2025, the Mississippi Museum of Art (MMA) confirmed the purchase of Fountainhead, a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1948 and completed in 1954. The renowned modernist architect designed the residence and its furnishings for oil businessman J. Willis Hughes, who lived there with his family until 1980. Established in 1911, the MMA is the largest art museum in the state of Mississippi, offering exhibitions, public programs, artistic and community partnerships, educational initiatives, and opportunities for exchange year-round through a permanent collection of paintings, photography, multimedia works, and sculpture. The purchase is part of the Museum's goal to embed itself in neighborhoods across the city in ways that support its community-building priorities, making the architectural landmark available to the public for tours with reservations. The initiative is inspired by institutions such as the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which acquired the Wright-designed Bachman-Wilson House in 2015.

+ 65

Back in April 2022, Abu Dhabi unveiled the first images of a new Natural History Museum designed by the Dutch practice Mecanoo. Three years later, on November 22, 2025, the museum opened its doors to the public, presenting 13.8 billion years of science and discovery with a special focus on the Arabian region. Covering more than 35,000 sqm, the design is intended to resonate with natural rock formations. Geometry acts as the unifying theme, with pentagonal shapes referencing cellular structures. Water and vegetation, symbols of life in the desert, also play an important role in the design. Located in Abu Dhabi's Saadiyat Cultural District, the building houses rare meteorites, dinosaur fossils, and reconstructions of the region's prehistoric landscapes, combining natural history, storytelling, and immersive environments. Through interactive exhibitions, special events, and community-science programmes, the museum seeks to encourage audiences of all ages to engage with the natural world.

+ 8

On November 28, 2025, Qatar Foundation will launch Lawh Wa Qalam: M. F. Husain Museum, a new addition to Qatar's cultural landscape dedicated to the life and work of artist Maqbool Fida Husain. The museum will be the world's first institution to trace Husain's artistic journey from the 1950s to his death in 2011, offering an immersive experience in a building drafted by the artist himself. The permanent exhibition will include paintings, films, tapestry, photography, poetry, and installations, presented through multimedia storytelling. Covering more than 3,000 square meters, the museum aims to foster creativity and dialogue, serving as a new space for learning and exploration within Qatar Foundation's Education City in Doha. The initiative adds to a campus that houses educational and research institutions designed by architects such as Arata Isozaki, Rem Koolhaas, and Antoine Predock, as well as firms like Legorreta + Legorreta and Mangera Yvars Architects.

+ 1

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art has announced that it will open to the public on September 22, 2026, adding a new cultural institution to Los Angeles's Exposition Park. Founded by George Lucas and Mellody Hobson, the museum is dedicated to illustrated and narrative storytelling, understood as visual works that communicate stories across media and periods. The building is designed by Ma Yansong of MAD Architects, with landscape architecture by Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA and Stantec serving as executive architect.

+ 11

This week's architecture news highlights a diverse global landscape of design innovation, cultural investment, and adaptive reuse. Across continents, new museums and cultural venues are opening to foster dialogue around art, design, and community engagement. At the same time, major recognitions and project announcements underscore the growing importance of sustainable, socially conscious practices in shaping contemporary architecture. From adaptive transformations in New York, Tainan, and Milan, including preparations for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, to new cultural landmarks in Ghana and Qatar, this week's overview features projects by leading firms such as Herzog & de Meuron, Snøhetta, and Mecanoo, alongside initiatives from emerging practices like Limbo Accra in West Africa.

+ 17

The Limbo Museum is a new institution dedicated to architecture, art, and design based in Ghana, West Africa. The museum challenges the concept of the ruin, operating from a formerly abandoned Brutalist estate that currently conveys the image of an unfinished building. The project was founded by Limbo Accra, a spatial design and research-based practice established in 2018 by Dominique Petit-Frère and Emil Grip, dedicated to "unlocking the potential of unfinished buildings across West Africa and beyond." On October 31, 2025, the museum opened its first public exhibition, On the Other Side of Languish by Reginald Sylvester II, developed through the institution's visiting artist residency program.

+ 20

The Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art (Suzhou MoCA), designed by BIG – Bjarke Ingels Group, is nearing completion along the Jinji Lake waterfront in Suzhou, China. Conceived as a cluster of twelve pavilions beneath a continuous, ribbon-like roof, the 60,000-square-meter complex reinterprets the traditional garden architecture that has long defined Suzhou's urban and cultural identity. Commissioned by the Suzhou Harmony Development Group and developed in collaboration with ARTS Group and Front Inc., the project is expected to open officially in 2026. The museum will debut with "Materialism," an exhibition curated by BIG that traces a material journey from stone to recyclate.

+ 13

The Studio Museum in Harlem is preparing to open its new purpose-built home to the public on November 15 with a Community Day celebration. Designed by Adjaye Associates in collaboration with Cooper Robertson, the seven-story, 82,000-square-foot building is located on West 125th Street in Harlem, New York City. Serving as a major institution dedicated to artists of African descent, the museum's new facility marks the first structure in its fifty-seven-year history conceived specifically for its mission. The opening signals a new chapter for the museum's engagement with art, education, and the local community through expanded spatial and programmatic capacities.