The new Museum of Liverpool that has just opened on July 19th tells Liverpool’s story, its importance as one of the World’s great ports, and its cultural influence such as with the Beatles phenomenon.  It is conceived as a meeting point for History, the People of Liverpool and visitors from around the globe.  According to the Architect, Kim Herforth Nielsen, the project functions as much more than just a Building or a Museum. 

Located in Shanghai’s Baoshan District, this former glass-manufacturing site covers a total area of around 30,000m2, and includes thirty existing buildings of various age and scale. logon proposed a 20 year strategic development plan, renaming the site to G+ Glass Theme Park (Glass, Art, Research and Technology Park). Phase one includes the Shanghai Museum of Glass and a hot glass show.

Implementing a museum within the first phase of the development will help to shed some light on the Baoshan district where it is located and its community. As the site location is not well known, the museum should help in increasing the value of the surrounding land. Following phases of G+ Glass Theme Park include a sculpture yard in phase two, a science park in phase three, and a business park in phase four all supported by commercial facilities planned to be complete by 2018.

 









Museo Soumaya that has just opened to the public in late March houses one of the most important art collections in Latin America with over 6,200 artworks and 60,000 square feet of exhibition space.

The Soumaya Museum is located in a former industrial zone dating from the 1940’s which today presents a very high real-estate potential. The Soumaya Museum should play a key role in the reconversion of the area; as a preeminent cultural landmark, it is sought upon as catalyst for changing the preconceived image of the neighborhood.

The museum is, in essence, a single 65,000-square-foot room, separated by partial height walls into galleries, none a discrete, fully enclosed room.  Overhead, hundreds of elliptical occuli bathe the interior in even, full-spectrum daylight, modulated to filter out damaging rays. In this gently luminous setting, the artwork takes on heightened vividness.  Outside, matte anodized aluminum panels that enclose the building continue the discourse with the landscape.  From oblique vantage points on the exterior, underlying strips of polished stainless steel capture unexpected and scintillating reflections.

 The project The project is recipient of a 2011 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Award for Architecture.
© Scott FrancesInside the North Carolina Museum of Art, the light of day and the lush surrounding hills have a presence unusual in institutional galleries for art. Overhead, hundreds of elliptical occuli, in long, parallel, coffered vaults bathe the museum’s interior in even, full-spectrum daylight, modulated in intensity by layered materials that filter out damaging rays. In the gently luminous setting, against pure white walls, the artwork takes on heightened immediacy and vividness.

Unlike the location of an urban museum that is reached through the room-like spaces of a city, to go to Fuglsang entails a long journey through open countryside, finally arriving on a long straight road through a loose assembly of buildings to a courtyard at the heart of the Estate. Enclosing the west side of the courtyard is a long, low walled barn, painted white with a tall roof. On the north side is the land steward’s house, long again, simply ornamented and made of pale brick.

To the south is the Manor House, set back by an appropriate distance and separated by a moat. Country classical in style, the red brick façade is arranged in three tall gables and the interior has decorated ceilings and parquet floors that change in pattern from room to room. The best of its rooms look out to a refined landscaped garden behind and have long been places for the performance of music.

Michael Graves & Associates have just finished work on The Louwman Collection, the National Automobile Museum of the Netherlands. The project was designed by MGA Principal and Studio Head Gary Lapera, AIA.
Speaking of the firm’s interest in museum design, Michael Graves remarks, “For an architect, museums are certainly among the most gratifying commissions one can receive—they give you a chance to contribute to cultural history and to the public’s shared experience of that history. We’ve been fortunate to have designed a variety of museums over the years.” Says Gary Lapera, “In designing this particular museum, we were greatly influenced by the character of the historical and physical context, and endeavored to give this institution a presence with a unique sense of place.”