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Museums and Libraries: The Latest Architecture and News

Public library Ana María Matute / RSP arquitectos

Public library Ana María Matute / RSP arquitectos - Library, Fence, HandrailPublic library Ana María Matute / RSP arquitectos - Library, FacadePublic library Ana María Matute / RSP arquitectos - Library, Facade, Column, BeamPublic library Ana María Matute / RSP arquitectos - Library, Door, Chair, TablePublic library Ana María Matute / RSP arquitectos - More Images+ 47

Madrid, Spain

Regeneration of Part of the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) Coastal Zone Competition Entry / Kokkinou - Kourkoulas Architects

Regeneration of Part of the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) Coastal Zone Competition Entry / Kokkinou - Kourkoulas Architects - Image 26 of 4
Courtesy of Kokkinou - Kourkoulas Architects

Kokkinou – Kourkoulas Architects shared with us their proposal in the competition for the redesign of the existing cereals stock house building facilities (SILO) and its surrounding open space into a Museum for Underwater Antiquities. This also includes the regeneration of part of the Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) Coastal Zone – transformation into an open public space for outdoor activities. With their main strategy based on preserving the memory and the effective wealth of the industrial past of the port, their goal is the creation of a cultural center at the western edge of the port amongst the wharfs and other industrial infrastructure. More images and architects’ description after the break.

SFMOMA Expansion / Snøhetta

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has announced further details of its 235,000-square-foot building expansion that will support the museum's increasing role in city life and the international art community. Designed by Norway-based practice Snøhetta, in collaboration with local firm EHDD, the 10-story concrete structure will compliment SFMOMA's original, Mario Botta-designed, red-brick museum by offering more free-to-the-public space, expanded education programs and an abundance of flexible performance-based gallery space.

New National Contemporary Art Storage of Korea Competition Entry / PWFERRETTO

New National Contemporary Art Storage of Korea Competition Entry / PWFERRETTO - Image 14 of 4
Courtesy of PWFERRETTO

With the proposal title of ‘Expose the Structural DNA’, PWFERRETTO’s design for a new National Contemporary Art Storage of Korea amplifies the power of the existing structure by revealing its bare structural logic. Their main goals are to create an engaging experience and relate to the visitor in a more raw and immediate way, which makes it different from a museum. More images and architects’ description after the break.

GSO Nürnberg Information Centre Competition Entry / Studio DMTW

GSO Nürnberg Information Centre Competition Entry / Studio DMTW - Image 10 of 4
Courtesy of Studio DMTW

The new information centre, designed by Studio DMTW, aims to be the central representative identification point in the overall context of the Georg-Simon-Ohm-Hochschule. With the program including a library with an open reading area, individual working spaces, and several seminar and meeting facilities, the design stipulates a clear structuring for all the functions with regard to both the outdoor areas and the new building itself. More images and architects’ description after the break.

In Progress: The Biomuseo / Frank Gehry

In Progress: The Biomuseo / Frank Gehry - Educational Architecture, Facade
© Victoria Murillo / Istmophoto.com / Biomuseo

The Puente de Vida Museum, more commonly referred to as The Biomuseo, will be Frank Gehry's first design in all of Latin America. It is located in Panama in the area called Amador, which sits only a few blocks from the country's principal cruise port and is adjacent to Panama City. The mission of the Biomuseo is to "offer an impressing and educational experience about the biodiversity and emergence of the isthmus in Panama in order to motivate all Panamanians to get to know and to value this natural component of their identity, as well as to generate in all its visitors the need to protect the environment" (Biomuseo Website). The Biomuseo intends to explore the importance of Panama's biological systems and its emergence as a geological link between North and South America, both of which have had global impacts many are unaware of.

With these goals in mind, it quickly became clear that the museum design needed to be something very special to attract the international attention its founders desired. They wanted the museum to be a never-before-seen kind of design and to serve as a new architectural icon for Panama, much like the Eiffel Tower does for France or the Tower of Pisa for Italy. With the participation of Gehry Partners as well as the world-renowned landscape architect Edwina von Gal & Company, the Biomuseo began to take form: an extremely unique, Gehry-esque structure surrounded by an open botanical park that complements the exhibits within.

More after the break...

In Progress: The Biomuseo / Frank Gehry - Educational ArchitectureIn Progress: The Biomuseo / Frank Gehry - Educational Architecture, Facade, Stairs, DoorIn Progress: The Biomuseo / Frank Gehry - Educational Architecture, Facade, Column, Arch, ArcadeIn Progress: The Biomuseo / Frank Gehry - Educational Architecture, Garden, Chair, ForestIn Progress: The Biomuseo / Frank Gehry - More Images+ 35

Mills Museum / Flores & Prats

Mills Museum / Flores & Prats - Museum, Facade, ArchMills Museum / Flores & Prats - Museum, Stairs, Arch, Beam, Arcade, HandrailMills Museum / Flores & Prats - Museum, Arch, BeamMills Museum / Flores & Prats - Museum, Beam, Arch, ColumnMills Museum / Flores & Prats - More Images+ 13

Palma, Spain
  • Architects: Flores & Prats
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  700
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  1997

Reading Spaces, Spaces for Reading: A look at Singapore's Culture of Reading

Reading Spaces, Spaces for Reading: A look at Singapore's Culture of Reading - Featured Image
Central Library Singapore at dawn. Photo © Jason Wee

This article comes to us courtesy of author Jason Wee, an artist, curator, and writer who directs Grey Projects in Singapore. It originally appeared on the Guggenheim's blog on January 14th, 2013.

LeMay Museum / LARGE Architecture

LeMay Museum / LARGE Architecture - Exhibition Center, Facade, Arch
Courtesy of LARGE Architecture

LeMay Museum / LARGE Architecture - Exhibition Center, Facade, Beam, ArchLeMay Museum / LARGE Architecture - Exhibition Center, Facade, Arch, CityscapeLeMay Museum / LARGE Architecture - Exhibition Center, BenchLeMay Museum / LARGE Architecture - Exhibition Center, Facade, ArchLeMay Museum / LARGE Architecture - More Images+ 18

Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Mérida / Grupo Arquidecture

Gran Museo del Mundo Maya de Mérida / Grupo Arquidecture - MuseumGran Museo del Mundo Maya de Mérida / Grupo Arquidecture - Interior Photography, Museum, DoorGran Museo del Mundo Maya de Mérida / Grupo Arquidecture - MuseumGran Museo del Mundo Maya de Mérida / Grupo Arquidecture - MuseumGran Museo del Mundo Maya de Mérida / Grupo Arquidecture - More Images+ 26

Mérida, Mexico
  • Architects: Grupo Arquidecture
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  22600
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2012
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  GRAPHISOFT, Trespa, Bostik, Durock, Mattera, +7
  • Professionals: High Tech Services

Oiio Reveals Proposal for Guggenheim Expansion

Oiio Reveals Proposal for Guggenheim Expansion - Image 6 of 4
Courtesy of Oiio Architecture Office

With many museums worldwide seeking to extend, to accommodate larger collections, Athens-based Oiio Architecture Office have asked: “What if we decided we needed a little more of Guggenheim?”

Their solution is to stretch Frank Lloyd Wright’s original building skywards, by continuing its iconic ramp, creating an additional 13 floors.

More on the design after the break...

New Culture Centre and Library Winning Proposal / schmidt hammer lassen architects

New Culture Centre and Library Winning Proposal / schmidt hammer lassen architects - Image 3 of 4
Courtesy of schmidt hammer lassen architects

Designed to gather the city’s cultural functions under one roof, the winning proposal by schmidt hammer lassen architects for the new cultural centre and library in Karlshamn, Sweden will be the city’s new meeting place. The 5,000 square metre cultural centre will get a sculptural and flexible building containing a library, an exhibition area, a cinema, a tourist office and a café, which together work to embrace diversity. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Nam June Paik Library / N H D M

Nam June Paik Library / N H D M  - Image 6 of 4
Courtesy of N H D M

Designed by N H D M / Nahyun Hwang + David Eugin Moon, the Nam June Paik Library is a new public art library in Nam June Paik Art Center in Yong-In, Korea, which opened to the general public in 2011. Inspired by Nam June Paik’s artistic processes, the library was designed as a multi-functional spatial device, which redefines the relationship between library users and information. While the conventional library is characterized by the one directional transmission of the static, centralized, and predefined content, this library aims to promote non-linear and random access to information, and its production beyond the consumption. More images and architects’ description after the break.

Sea City Museum / Wilkinson Eyre Architects

Sea City Museum / Wilkinson Eyre Architects - Museum, FacadeSea City Museum / Wilkinson Eyre Architects - Museum, FacadeSea City Museum / Wilkinson Eyre Architects - Museum, Door, Handrail, FacadeSea City Museum / Wilkinson Eyre Architects - MuseumSea City Museum / Wilkinson Eyre Architects - More Images+ 10

  • Architects: WilkinsonEyre
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  2981
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2012

Heidelberg Castle / Max Dudler Architekt

Heidelberg Castle / Max Dudler Architekt - Museum, Facade
© Stefan Müller
Heidelberg, Germany

Heidelberg Castle / Max Dudler Architekt - Museum, Facade, DoorHeidelberg Castle / Max Dudler Architekt - Museum, Facade, ArchHeidelberg Castle / Max Dudler Architekt - Museum, FacadeHeidelberg Castle / Max Dudler Architekt - Museum, Facade, DoorHeidelberg Castle / Max Dudler Architekt - More Images+ 15

Folkwang Library / Max Dudler

Folkwang Library / Max Dudler - Library
© Stefan Müller
Essen, Germany
  • Architects: Max Dudler
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2012
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Heroal, VHB Memmingen

Folkwang Library / Max Dudler - LibraryFolkwang Library / Max Dudler - LibraryFolkwang Library / Max Dudler - LibraryFolkwang Library / Max Dudler - LibraryFolkwang Library / Max Dudler - More Images+ 36

Whitney Studio / LOT-EK Architecture & Design

Whitney Studio / LOT-EK Architecture & Design - Visual Arts Center
© Danny Bright
  • Architects: LOT-EK
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  700 ft²
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Lutron, Dow Building Solutions, Benjamin Moore, EPDM Roofing, Hempel, +11

Whitney Studio / LOT-EK Architecture & Design - Visual Arts CenterWhitney Studio / LOT-EK Architecture & Design - Visual Arts CenterWhitney Studio / LOT-EK Architecture & Design - Visual Arts CenterWhitney Studio / LOT-EK Architecture & Design - Visual Arts CenterWhitney Studio / LOT-EK Architecture & Design - More Images+ 7

The Hinzert Museum and Document Center / Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch

The Hinzert Museum and Document Center / Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch - Preservation SiteThe Hinzert Museum and Document Center / Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch - Preservation Site, FacadeThe Hinzert Museum and Document Center / Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch - Preservation SiteThe Hinzert Museum and Document Center / Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch - Preservation Site, FacadeThe Hinzert Museum and Document Center / Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch - More Images+ 11

Halle Saale, Germany
  • Architects: Wandel Hoefer Lorch + Hirsch: Bielefeld Gillich Heckel
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  470
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2005
  • Manufacturers Brands with products used in this architecture project
    Manufacturers:  Lindner