See the Architectural Design of 9 Museums that Opened Last Fall

See the Architectural Design of 9 Museums that Opened Last Fall ♦ From Canada to Cape Town, last fall, a little all over the world, a number of cities received new museums that, furthermore, celebrate architectural design.

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Abu Dhabi received Louvre, designed by Jean Nouvel, and Jakarta got the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, that stands for the maturation of the country’s flourishing art scenes into subjects of international interest. Last fall brought new places to wander, learn, and find inspiration for years to come.

See the Architectural Design of 9 Museums that Opened Last Fall

Image Credits to Architectural Digest

In the capital of the United States of America, the Museum of the Bible, designed by SmithGroupJJR, welcomed its first crowds in November. The private museum is funded by Hobby Lobby President Steve Green, who also provided 40,000 artifacts from his collection, including papyrus fragments of the New Testament and the visitors can now find a biblical garden, where they can see what a hyssop bush or a rose of Sharon looks like before nibbling ancient snacks like flatbread and date honey in the café.

Image Credit to Architectural Digest

Also last fall, the long-delayed Louvre Abu Dhabi put an end to the long waiting and opened its doors. The property was designed by French Pritzker Prize–winner Jean Nouvel and it was totally worth the wait!

Part of the city’s Saadiyat Island cultural district, the museum is capped by a star-latticed dome, dappling visitors with varied patterns of sunlight. The collection includes more than 600 artworks, manuscripts, and objects of historical and cultural significance, with more than 300 masterpieces on loan from French institutions.

Image Credits to Architectural Digest

Coinciding with Jakarta Biennale, Indonesia got its first international modern art museum in November. The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MACAN) occupy a space of 43.000 foot-square and the interiors were designed by MET Studio Design Ltd. The museum that shows the maturation of the country’s flourishing arts scenes into subjects of international interest is located in a mixed-use building and has received the work of Indonesian artists like Raden Saleh and Affandi, as well as international stars like Ai Weiwei, Jeff Koons, and Gerhard Richter.

For the inaugural exhibition, curators Charles Esche and Agung Hujatnika presented 90 works from the collection of museum founder Haryanto Adikoesoemo.

Image Credits to National Museum of Contemporary Art

The National Museum of Contemporary Art, in Athens, had a soft launch in October 2016. But now, with the new location, it finally opened its final location last fall. Following an architecture competition, EMST awarded 3SK Stylianidis Architects, I. Mouzakis & Associate Architects, Tim Ronalds Architects, and K. Kontozoglou the task of collaboratively refurbishing the historic FIX Brewery.

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Image Credits to Architectural Digest

Canada’s newest home for contemporary artwork, Remai Modern in Saskatchewan, officially opened in October. The modernist building, designed by Canadian architect Bruce Kuwabara, features roughly 130,000 square feet of total space which can be used for various functions.

Image Credits to Studio KO

Marrakech is also on the map of cities that received a museum that no one can miss. The Musée Yves Saint Laurent, that opened last fall, celebrates the life and work of one of the 20th century’s most defining figures in fashion. The museum, designed by French architecture firm Studio KO, features a permanent collection of Saint Laurent’s work staged by Christophe Martin, as well as a gallery, a coffee, and a restaurant.

Image Credits to Snohetta

The King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, has a futuristic design admired by architecture lovers all over the world. The Museum opened last year and it was designed by architects at Norwegian firm Snøhetta. The cultural center includes a cinema, library, museum, and auditorium.

Image Credits to Heatherwick Studio

The Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, in Cape Town, is the first major museum in Africa dedicated exclusively to contemporary art. The 100,000-square-foot space within the historic Grain Silo Complex designed by world-renowned architect Thomas Heatherwick is also the largest museum to open on the continent in over a century.

Image Credits to Silvia Ros / Aranguren & Gallegos Arquitectos and Wolfberg Alvarez

And if you’re already thinking about going to the United States, don’t forget to go to Miami and to visit the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami’s new location, that opened in December, and check its architectural design.

This is a space with some impressive 20,000 square feet of exhibition galleries and a public sculpture garden. Aranguren + Gallegos Arquitectos is the architecture firm who designed the building. The design of the Sculpture Garden was done by Project-Space/Jonathan Caplan in association with Fernando Wong.