Rafael Viñoly Architects' expansion of the Brooklyn Children's Museum, located at the intersection of Brooklyn Avenue and St. Marks Avenue in Crown Heights, has reached substantial completion. It is slated to be New York City's first LEED Silver museum.


The museum was founded in 1899 and expanded on its current site in 1977. In 1999, it began to seek ways to increase capacity and to  create a new public presence for the twenty-first century. Rafael Viñoly Architects has achieved this by creating a distinctive L-shaped, two-story structure that differs from its context in color as well as physical form, yet remains welcoming and deferential to the  museum's existing built fabric. The plan doubles the museum's space to 102,000 square feet and is expected to expand its annual visitor capacity from 250,000 to 400,000.

© All photographs are courtesy of
Chuck Choi

The project is located inside the dam of the Osaka port, where hundreds of ships pass through daily. Some important buildings such as the A.T.C. (Asian Trading Center) , W.T.C. (World Trading Center) and Birds Sanctuary are located around the site.


In December 1997, a tunnel under the sea for both cars and subway trains was inaugurated, aiming to link this area to Osaka’s City center. This project is considered as the last developments in that area.


The architect created a 30,000m2 basin on which he erected a magnificent sphere 70 meters in diameter made of glass and steel, designed to be perceived as floating on water.

The Utah Museum of Natural History, is an active research institution located at the University of Utah, that cares for over 1.5 million objects. It provides unique natural history experiences to Utah residents and tourists through traveling and permanent exhibits, special events and other programs.

The new building rests on a series of terraces that step up the hill and lay along the contours of the site, with minimal disruption to the adjacent natural landscape. In addition, running and hiking trails in the immediate area are preserved and enhanced.

All images © Red Square Inc. for Polshek Partnership and GSBS Architects

Since opening its doors in 2006, the Frederic C. Hamilton Building has become one of downtown Denver’s most recognizable landmarks, drawing thousands of visitors. The project, designed by Studio Daniel Libeskind and Davis Partnership, consists of a 146,000ft² addition to the existing Denver Art Museum, built originally in 1971, almost doubling its size.


Consisting of a separate building this major expansion tied to the existing museum through a 100ft long enclosed walkway. It hosts the main entrance to the museum complex, as well as a collection of Modern and contemporary art, a collection of Oceanic art and African Art, a theatre and a rooftop sculpture garden with views over the scenic Rocky Mountain range.

Photograph © BitterBredt

A Platinum LEED certification from the US Green Building Council (USGBC) was awarded to the Water + Life Museums, which comprise the Center for Water Education and the Western Center for Archeology and Paleontology, designed and constructed by Los Angeles-based Lehrer + Gangi Design + Build. 

The complex is the first museum building to secure a Platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating, the highest bestowed by the USGBC.  The award is doubly impressive, as the 70,000-square-foot museum complex met the most exacting green standards (including those regarding energy and water consumption), despite the harsh desert environment of Hemet, where triple-digit summer heat is the norm, but where water can freeze in winter.

Regeneration embodies the sequences of devastation, survival, rebirth, adaptation and life. In war, nature—comprising the land and the human spirit nurtured thereon—is ravaged and seemingly destroyed.


Miraculously and somehow inevitably, however, nature survives and regenerates as the power of life prevails. It is this process of regeneration and healing that nourishes and rekindles human hope, faith and courage.


Located in the Ottawa, Canada, the project's conception is a joint venture between Moriyama & Teshima Architects and  Griffiths Rankin Cook Architects.