North-facing view of The Sweepers by Wang Shugang at the O'Donnell Athenaeum Phase I Museum. Photo: ©Mauricio Rojas, Courtesy of UT Dallas

UT Dallas opens Morphosis-designed Crow Museum of Asian Art

In Richardson, Tex., the University of Texas at Dallas has opened a second location for the Crow Museum of Asian Art—the first of multiple buildings that will be part of a 12-acre cultural district. When completed, the arts and performance complex, called the Edith and Peter O’Donnell Jr. Athenaeum, will include two museums, a performance hall and music building, a grand plaza, and a dedicated parking structure on the Richardson campus.

Museums

Bjarke Ingels' Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art conceived as village of 12 pavilions

The 60,000-sm Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China recently topped out. Designed by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), the museum is conceived as a village of 12 pavilions, offering a modern interpretation of the elements that have defined the city’s urbanism, architecture, and landscape for centuries.

Cultural Facilities

Baltimore’s National Aquarium opens 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the harbor’s original tidal marsh habitat

The National Aquarium in Baltimore has opened the National Aquarium Harbor Wetland, a 10,000-sf floating wetland that mimics the Inner Harbor’s original Chesapeake Bay tidal marsh habitat. Located between Piers 3 and 4 on Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, the $14 million project features more than 32,000 native shrubs and marsh grasses.

Museums

The Tampa Museum of Art will soon undergo a $110 million expansion

In Tampa, Fla., the Tampa Museum of Art will soon undergo a 77,904-sf Centennial Expansion project. The museum plans to reach its $110 million fundraising goal by late 2024 or early 2025 and then break ground. Designed by Weiss/Manfredi, and with construction manager The Beck Group, the expansion will redefine the museum’s surrounding site.

Museums

Museums | Feb 6, 2015

Tacoma Art Museum's new wing features sun screens that operate like railroad box car doors

The 16-foot-tall screens, operated by a hand wheel, roll like box car doors across the façade and interlace with a set of fixed screens.

Renderings courtesy Holm Architecture Office

Jan 19, 2015

HAO unveils designs for a 3D movie museum in China

New York-based HAO has released designs for the proposed Bolong 3D Movie Museum & Mediatek in Tianjin.

Jan 13, 2015

Steven Holl unveils design for $450 million redevelopment of Houston's Museum of Fine Arts

Holl designed the campus’ north side to be a pedestrian-centered cultural hub on a lively landscape with ample underground parking.

Jan 2, 2015

Construction put in place enjoyed healthy gains in 2014

Construction consultant FMI foresees—with some caveats—continuing growth in the office, lodging, and manufacturing sectors. But funding uncertainties raise red flags in education and healthcare.

Dec 29, 2014

'Russian nesting doll' design provides unique fire protection solution for movie negatives

A major movie studio needed a new vault to protect its irreplaceable negatives for films released after 1982. SmithGroupJJR came up with a box-in-a-box design solution. It was named a Great Solution by the editors of Building Design+Construction.

At Coastline Community Colleges Newport Beach (Calif.) Campus, the Building Tea

Dec 28, 2014

AIA course: Enhancing interior comfort while improving overall building efficacy

Providing more comfortable conditions to building occupants has become a top priority in today’s interior designs. This course is worth 1.0 AIA LU/HSW.

Dec 22, 2014

Skanska to build Miami’s Patricia and Phillip Frost Museum of Science

Designed by Grimshaw Architects, the 250,000-sf museum will serve as an economic engine and cultural anchor for Miami’s fast-growing urban core.

Dec 15, 2014

Studio Gang tapped for American Museum of Natural History expansion

Chicago-based Studio Gang Architects has been commissioned to design the $325 million Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.