Building projects

Major museum openings and expansions in 2021

From the much-anticipated Grand Egyptian Museum to the Frick’s move to a Brutalist landmark, here are the building projects aiming to change cultural landscapes around the world

Sneak peek: Snarkitecture designs new gallery in Detroit for Library Street Collective

The art space in a historic building in the Belt neighbourhood will open with a show curated by the street artist Kaws

Greecenews

Huge historic tobacco factory in Athens to be renovated into cultural space by 2021

Arts organisation Neon are working on the project with the Greek government to mark 200 years since the country’s liberation from the Ottoman Empire

Indianews

'New Hindu India': Narendra Modi begins £2bn overhaul of Delhi's colonial parliament buildings

Politicians and cultural leaders have questioned the use of state funds for prime minister's "vanity project" during Covid-19 crisis

Kunsthaus Zurich counts down to ‘quantum leap’ for Swiss art scene after Chipperfield expansion

City hopes the $230m new building will raise its profile as an art destination to match Basel

New Art Gallery of Nova Scotia building is inspired by indigenous Mi’kmaq culture

The winning design is meant to be both a centrepiece of Halifax’s burgeoning waterfront arts district and an earnest symbol of reconciliation, the project leads say

Boola Bardip: Perth’s revamped Western Australian Museum opens with new name and focus on Aboriginal heritage

The museum worked with around 60 Aboriginal language groups across the vast state to bring their perspectives into every gallery

Challenges overcome as Houston's Museum of Fine Arts completes $450m campus expansion

Delayed by just three weeks amid the pandemic, new Kinder Building will dramatically increase space for Modern and contemporary art

Hong Kong's M+ museum delayed to autumn 2021 amid management troubles and spiralling costs

West Kowloon Cultural District chief executive heads for early exit, accused of contributing to cost overruns and delays

Space race: how the pandemic is pushing museums to rethink design

Experts predict bigger galleries, a stronger connection to the outdoors and an end to the expansion juggernaut

Has Putin’s $1.6bn plan to build new cultural centres throughout Russia hit the rocks?

Foundation running the huge project has cut more than 80% of staff, but construction continues

Inside The Box: Plymouth’s £48m bid for cultural revival

Pandemic scuppers city’s celebrations of Mayflower anniversary and hopes for tourist crowds—but flagship museum project opens against the odds

Plans for world's biggest Picasso museum in south of France scuppered

Aix-en-Provence city council says that sale fell through after negotiations with artist’s stepdaughter broke down

Sigmund Freud Museum reopens in Vienna after a €4m expansion

Family's private apartment, displays about psychoanalysis and collection of conceptual art go on view

The next Tate Modern? Helsinki power plant to become vast new arts hub under city masterplan

Hanasaari plant will be at the heart of burgeoning Suvilahti culture district

'Grand Egyptian Museum will be finished this year': behind the scenes of the giant $1bn project

We take a tour of Egypt’s vast antiquities museum—the future home of Tutankhamun’s treasures—before its long-awaited opening in 2021

Sydney's Powerhouse Museum saved from sell-off, but debate rages on

NSW government scraps controversial billion-dollar relocation plan but faces questions from community groups and parliament

Notre Dame's spire to be rebuilt the way it was—but use of lead likely to spark new controversy

French President Macron makes u-turn after first suggesting the 19th-century spire, which was destroyed in the fire last year, should be replaced by a contemporary design

Kentucky philanthropist launches ambitious arts hub and 'incubator' in the Appalachian mountains

Entrepreneur and contemporary art collector Brook Smith plans to turn former coal-mining region into a "cultural destination"

Istanbul Museum of Painting and Sculpture plagued by delays after top curators quit

Turkey’s national modern art collection, closed off for much of its 80-year existence, will be hard-pressed to open $25m new building this year

Saudi Arabiaanalysis

Are Saudi Arabia's big culture plans turning to dust?

As oil prices slump and the pandemic continues to spread, the kingdom's ambitious initiatives are being scaled back

Coronavirusanalysis

Russian museums in crisis: State Hermitage projects losses of almost half its annual revenue after closing for two months

Loss of tourism and oil market crash because of coronavirus pandemic wreak havoc as institutions seek state help

Prizesnews

Los Angeles Times art critic Christopher Knight wins Pulitzer prize

Writer was recognised for his criticism of Lacma’s controversial expansion plan

Patrick Devedjian—French politician and driving force behind new museum dedicated to the Sun King—has died of coronavirus

Devedjian was leading plans for a museum project in Saint-Cloud, west of Paris, about the reign of Louis XIV

Anonymous €20m donation kickstarts Musée d’Orsay transformation

Radical revelopment of former train station building will make way for more Impressionist works and visitors

Not bigger, but better: behind the scenes of the £35.5m revamp at London's National Portrait Gallery

Director Nicholas Cullinan and architect Jamie Fobert reveal how the gallery’s controversial three-year closure will transform its 600-year collection of portraits