30 Museums From Around The Globe Whose Architecture Is Everything But Plain

The Luma Foundation in Arles was opened on June 26 this year and it is not only a contemporary art museum but also a cultural center with seminar rooms, exhibition spaces, research facilities, an auditorium and a cafe.

 

The architect of the museum Frank Gehry was inspired by Van Gogh's Starry Night painting.

 

The part of the building that catches the eye is the tower. It's 56 meters (184 feet) high and is made out of 10,752 stainless steel panels arranged irregularly.

The National Museum of African American History And Culture is located on the National Mall, which is a park in Washington. It was opened on 24 September 2016 and President Barack Obama led the ceremony.

 

The museum was designed by Ghanaian-born David Adjaye and the shape of the building was inspired by the three-tiered crowns used in Yoruban art from West Africa. The outside of the building is covered in an ornamental bronze-colored metal lattice which is to pay homage to ironwork crafted by enslaved African Americans.

 

This museum is the largest museum dedicated to African American history and culture. At this museum, you can dive into African American history and learn how it impacted the present of this nation. The collection includes more than 36,000 artifacts of the arts, slavery, the Civil Rights Movement, athletics and more.

The Museum aan de Stroom, which, translated from Dutch, means 'Museum by the River,' opened in May 2011 and it is the largest museum in Belgium's port city Antwerp.

 

The museum was a project designed by Neutelings Riedijk Architects. The building is an example of postmodern Art Deco architecture with the Indian red sandstone and curved glass inserts.

 

Its collection is assorted as you can find maritime objects, artifacts telling the history of the city as well as art exhibitions.

The Royal Ontario Museum was established in 1912 and it is the largest museum in Canada.

The Crystal part was added to the museum in 2007 and was designed by Daniel Libeskind. The entrance to the museum was moved to the Crystal and it's a perfect example of combining the old and the new.

The museum has an impressive collection of more than 6,000,000 items that include dinosaurs, meteorites, historical artifacts from all over the world, fossils and art pieces.

The Portuguese name Museu do Amanhã means "The Museum of Tomorrow" and it is a science museum that was opened in 2015 in Rio de Janeiro.

 

The structure was built according to the designs of the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. Its shape was inspired by bromeliads, which are an attraction in the city's Botanical Garden.

 

The museum's collections explore what challenges humans will have to deal with in the future, like sustainability, but also have a focus on what opportunities the coming days hold.

The Design Museum Holon was first opened on 3 March 2010. It is the first museum in Israel dedicated to design.

 

It was built according to Ron Arad's designs and it has a distinctive exterior: five colorful steel bands are undulating at parts together, then later separating.

 

The interior looks less fluid with rooms reminiscent of boxes where Israeli design from the 1930s to today is exhibited. Also, there are some exhibitions on fashion and trends that are changed regularly.

V&A Dundee was opened on 15 September 2018 and it is the first design museum in Scotland. It is a sister museum to London’s Victoria & Albert Museum and V&A Dundee is the first one to be opened outside London.

 

The building was designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma who also designed the newly completed stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The museum doesn't have straight outside walls and is made of 2,500 panels that weigh 3,000 kilograms (6,614 pounds) each.

 

The temporary exhibitions showcase the very best design from around the world from the past and the present. The permanent exhibitions feature Scottish designs. In the galleries you can see examples of architecture, engineering, fashion and furniture, ceramics, healthcare, jewellery, textiles, video game design and more.

The original building of the Museum Soumaya was opened in 1994, and in 2011, the new one was opened.

 

The newer building was designed by Fernando Romero. The museum's peculiar form is a rotated rhomboid covered in 16,000 hexagonal mirrored-steel pieces.

 

The Soumaya museum is a private one and it has an impressive collection of 70,000 pieces, including works of Salvador Dali and Tintoretto. The collection also includes sculptures from Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica, 19th- and 20th-century Mexican art.

The Studio Bell in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is the museum space of The National Music Centre. It was opened in 2016 and its exhibits include more than 2,000 rare instruments and artefacts including one of Elton John's pianos.

The building was designed by Allied Works Architecture and it is constructed of nine interlocking towers. The shiny panels are actually glazed terra cotta.

The Neue Nationalgalerie or the New National Gallery is a museum for modern art in Berlin first opened in 1968, then closed in 2015 for renovations, and will be reopened on 22 August 2021.

 

The designer for this building was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. The building was described as a modern glass temple.

 

The biggest part of the collection features art from the 20th century. The museum has pieces by artists like Pablo Picasso, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Joan Miró.