Museum architecture has been of increasing importance over the centuries, especially more recently.
A challenge for museum architecture is the differing purposes of the building. The museum collection must be preserved, but it also needs to be made accessible to the public. Climate control may be very important for the objects in the collection.
History
![Old Ashmolean 2006](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dd/Old_Ashmolean_2006.JPG)
An early example of architecture for a purpose-built museum is the
Museum of the History of Science
The History of Science Museum in Broad Street, Oxford, England, holds a leading collection of scientific instruments from Middle Ages to the 19th century. The museum building is also known as the Old Ashmolean Building to distinguish it from th ...
building in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, originally built to house the
Ashmolean Museum.
In the 20th century, museums have been combined with war memorials to serve multiple purposes. The
Australian War Memorial in
Canberra, for example, is a place of commemoration as well as for collection and display. It contains a museum, an archive and a shrine. It was designed by
Emil Sodersten
Emil Lawrence Sodersten (30 August 1899 – 14 December 1961) was an Australian architect active in the second quarter of the 20th century. His work encompassed the Australian architectural styles of Art Deco and Functionalist & Moderne. His de ...
and
John Crust in a contemporary
neoclassical style reminiscent of
Lutyens
Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...
with detailing influenced by
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
.
The
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, often referred to as The Guggenheim, is an art museum at 1071 Fifth Avenue on the corner of East 89th Street on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. It is the permanent home of a continuously exp ...
in New York City, USA (opened in 1959), by
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...
is an important architectural landmark and icon of the 20th century. Another classic 20th century example of iconic museum architecture is the titanium-covered
Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, and located in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain. The museum was inaugurated on 18 October 1997 by King Juan Carlos I of Sp ...
in Spain by
Frank Gehry (opened in 1997). Gehry has undertaken many major museum architecture projects, including the
Experience Music Project
The Museum of Pop Culture or MoPOP is a nonprofit museum in Seattle, Washington, dedicated to contemporary popular culture. It was founded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen in 2000 as the Experience Music Project. Since then MoPOP has organized ...
in Seattle, USA, the
Weisman Art Museum
The Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum is an art museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1934 as University Gallery, the museum was originally housed in an upper floor of the university's Northrop Auditorium. In 19 ...
in Minneapolis, USA, the
Vitra Design Museum
The Vitra Design Museum is a privately owned museum for design in Weil am Rhein, Germany.
Former Vitra CEO, and son of Vitra founders Willi and Erika Fehlbaum, Rolf Fehlbaum founded the museum in 1989 as an independent private foundation. The ...
and
MARTa Museum in Germany, and the
Art Gallery of Ontario
The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO; french: Musée des beaux-arts de l'Ontario) is an art museum in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The museum is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood of downtown Toronto, on Dundas Street West between McCaul and Bev ...
in Toronto, Canada.
Successful examples of modern architecture being married with existing museum buildings include the
Louvre Pyramid
The Louvre Pyramid (Pyramide du Louvre) is a large glass and metal structure designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei. The pyramid is in the main courtyard ( Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace in Paris, surrounded by three small ...
by
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...
in Paris, France (1989), and more recently the
Queen Elizabeth II Great Court
The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, commonly referred to simply as the Great Court, is the covered central quadrangle of the British Museum in London. It was redeveloped during the late 1990s to a design by Foster and Partners, from a 1970s ...
by
Norman Foster
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Nor ...
at the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, London, England (2000).
David Chipperfield designed many notable museums, including the award-winning
River and Rowing Museum
The River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, is located on a site at Mill Meadows by the River Thames. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames, the international ...
in Henley-on-Thames, England, in 1997. This won in 1999 the
RIBA
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...
''Architecture in Arts and Leisure Award'' and the
Royal Fine Art Commission
The Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) was an executive non-departmental public body of the UK government, established in 1999. It was funded by both the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for ...
Trust/
British Sky Broadcasting
Sky UK Limited is a British broadcaster and telecommunications company that provides television and broadband Internet services, fixed line and mobile telephone services to consumers and businesses in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of ...
''Best Building Award (England)''. Chipperfield also designed the
Figge Art Museum in Davenport, Iowa, USA (2005), the
Museum of Modern Literature
The Museum of Modern Literature (german: Literaturmuseum der Moderne, LiMo) is part of the German Literature Archive () in Marbach am Neckar, Germany. The museum won its architect the Stirling Prize in 2007.
Designed by British architect David C ...
in Marbach, Germany (2006), and the reconstructed
Neues Museum
The Neues Museum (English: ''New Museum'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin. Built from 1843 to 1855 by order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia in Neoclassical and Renaissance Revival styles, ...
in Berlin, Germany (2009).
![Bilbao - Guggenheim 43](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Bilbao_-_Guggenheim_43.jpg)
Museum architecture sometimes involves the
conversion
Conversion or convert may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman''
* "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series
* "The Conversion" ...
of old buildings that have outlived their usefulness but that are still of historic interest. A notable example is the
Dalí Theatre and Museum or the conversion of the
Bankside Power Station designed by Sir
Giles Gilbert Scott
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (9 November 1880 – 8 February 1960) was a British architect known for his work on the New Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral, and ...
into the
Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...
in 2000, based on design by
Herzog & de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd.,
" Herzog & de Meuron. Retrieved on 11 October 2012. "Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd. R ...
. Information about the conversion was the basis for a 2008 documentary ''Architects Herzog and de Meuron: Alchemy of Building & Tate Modern''.
Finegold Alexander + Associates Inc Finegold may refer to:
*Finegold, California, former name of Fine Gold, California, community in Madera County
*Barry Finegold (1971–), American politician
*Ben Finegold (1969–), American chess International Grandmaster
*Finegold Alexander Archi ...
, an architecture firm based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, established in 1962, has undertaken museum architecture projects including
Ellis Island National Monument and Museum (Associated Architects with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects) and the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...
(Associated Architects with Pei Cobb Freed & Partners).
Architects
As well as the architects mentioned above, other architects notable for their contributions to museum architecture include:
*
Philip Freelon
Philip Goodwin Freelon (March 26, 1953 – July 9, 2019) was an American architect. He was best known for leading the design team (with J. Max Bond Jr. of Davis Brody Bond, and David Adjaye) of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of ...
(
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was established in December 2003 and opened its permanent home in ...
, 2003, USA; the
Museum of the African Diaspora, 2005, USA)
*
Leonard Jacobson (
East Building
The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of cha ...
of the
National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, 1978, USA; West Wing of the
Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, Massachusetts, 1981, USA;
Portland Museum of Art
The Portland Museum of Art, or PMA, is the largest and oldest public art institution in the U.S. state of Maine. Founded as the Portland Society of Art in 1882. It is located in the downtown area known as The Arts District in Portland, Maine.
...
,
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...
, 1982, USA; the
Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, 1980s/90s, Paris, France)
*
Kengo Kuma
is a Japanese architect and professor in the Department of Architecture (Graduate School of Engineering) at the University of Tokyo. Frequently compared to contemporaries Shigeru Ban and Kazuyo Sejima, Kuma is also noted for his prolific writin ...
(
Kitakami Canal Museum,
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...
, 1994, Japan;
Suntory Museum of Art, 2007, Japan;
V&A at Dundee,
Dundee, 2010,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
)
*
Akira Kuryu (
Uemura Naomi Memorial Museum, 1994, Japan;
Okazaki Mindscape Museum, 1996, Japan)
*
Daniel Libeskind (
Jewish Museum, Berlin
The Jewish Museum Berlin (''Jüdisches Museum Berlin'') was opened in 2001 and is the largest Jewish museum in Europe. On of floor space, the museum presents the history of Jews in Germany from the Middle Ages to the present day, with new focuses ...
1989-1999,
Imperial War Museum North
Imperial War Museum North (sometimes referred to as IWM North) is a museum in the Metropolitan Borough of Trafford in Greater Manchester, England. One of five branches of the Imperial War Museum, it explores the impact of modern conflicts on pe ...
1997-2001,
Royal Ontario Museum (extension), 2002-2007)
*
SANAA
Sanaa ( ar, صَنْعَاء, ' , Yemeni Arabic: ; Old South Arabian: 𐩮𐩬𐩲𐩥 ''Ṣnʿw''), also spelled Sana'a or Sana, is the capital and largest city in Yemen and the centre of Sanaa Governorate. The city is not part of the Gover ...
*
Katayama Tōkuma (
Nara National Museum
The is one of the pre-eminent national art museums in Japan.
Introduction
The Nara National Museum is located in Nara, which was the capital of Japan from 710 to 784. Katayama Tōkuma (1854–1917) designed the original building, which is a r ...
, 1894, Japan; Kyoto Imperial Museum, 1895, now the
Kyoto National Museum
The is one of the major art museums in Japan. Located in Kyoto's Higashiyama ward, the museum focuses on pre-modern Japanese and Asian art.
History
The Kyoto National Museum, then the Imperial Museum of Kyoto, was proposed, along with the Impe ...
, Japan)
*
Stanton Williams
Stanton Williams is a British architectural design practice based in Islington
Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner ...
(
Grand Musée d'Art,
Stanton Williams Architects
e-architect
UK. 2011, Nantes, France)
Gallery
File:The National War Memorial, Canberra.JPG, The Australian War Memorial, Canberra, including a national military museum, completed 1941, designed by Emil Sodersten
Emil Lawrence Sodersten (30 August 1899 – 14 December 1961) was an Australian architect active in the second quarter of the 20th century. His work encompassed the Australian architectural styles of Art Deco and Functionalist & Moderne. His de ...
and John Crust
File:Louvre at night centered.jpg, The Louvre Pyramid
The Louvre Pyramid (Pyramide du Louvre) is a large glass and metal structure designed by the Chinese-American architect I. M. Pei. The pyramid is in the main courtyard ( Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace in Paris, surrounded by three small ...
at the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
in Paris (1989)
File:River-Rowing-Museum-Henley.jpg, The River and Rowing Museum
The River & Rowing Museum in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England, is located on a site at Mill Meadows by the River Thames. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames, the international ...
in Henley-on-Thames, designed by David Chipperfield and opened in 1997
File:Tate Modern viewed from Thames Pleasure Boat - geograph.org.uk - 307445.jpg, The Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It ...
in London, converted by Herzog & de Meuron
Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd.,
" Herzog & de Meuron. Retrieved on 11 October 2012. "Herzog & de Meuron Basel Ltd. R ...
in 2000
File:British Museum Great Court, London, UK - Diliff.jpg, The Great Court at the British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, London (2000)
File:Centro de Ciência de Macau.jpg, The Macao Science Center in Macau
Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
, designed by Pei Partnership Architects in association with I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...
(2009)
References
{{reflist
Architecture
Architectural design
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...