This Fall’s Museum Openings You Don’t Want to Miss!

Today at DesignMuseum we’ll be bringing you a super-article with a comprehensive selection of this Fall’s best design art gallery and museum openings that you most definitely do not want to miss! Several cities around the world will be opening up brand new museums, some of which are as referrable for their architecture as they are for their art exhibits.

These include Jean Nouvel’s stunning Le Louvre Abu Dhabi, which will signal a major architectural achievement, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jakarta, which represents a groundbreaking cultural landmark in the development of the arts and design scene in its region, the Zeitz Museum in Cape Town, the first all-contemporary art museum in Africa and the Bible Museum in Washington D.C. fully inspired in the Abrahamic Holy Book. So then, without further ado:

Louvre Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

After much antecipation, the opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi finally took place on the past November 11th. Designed by the award-winning French designer Jean Nouvel, the museum is situatied in the cultural district of Saadiyat Island in the city, a star-patterned dome will hover above the visitors, producing amazing visual effects with filtered sunlight. This Louvre’s collection is comprised of over 600 artwork pieces, manuscripts and historal-cultural objects and more than 300 borrowed masterpieces from France.

Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MACAN), Jakarta, Indonesia

The opening of the first international art museum in Indonesia also opened up this November, around the same time as the Jakarta Biennale. Its interiors designed by MET Studio Design LTD, the 43,000 sqft (almost 4000 sqm), it is to feature Indonesian artists’ work such as Raden Saleh and Affandi as well as international household names such as Ai Weiwei, Jeff Koons and Gerhard Richter. Curators Charles Esche and Agung Hujatnika will be presenting around 90 works of the museum founder, Haryanto Adikoesoemo’s collection.

Museum of the Bible, Washington, D.C.

This masterpiece designed by SmithGroup JJR is only a few blocks away from both the Capitol and the National Mall. Totalling up to 430,000 sqft, this museum opened up this November. The private facility is funded by Hobby Lobby President Steve Green, who also bequeathed it with 40,000 artifacts from his own collection, including papyrus segments of the New Testament. Besides old Bibles and archives, it aims also to include comprehensive experiences such as a biblical garden, where the museum-goers can find biblical plants such as the hyssop bush or the rose of Sharon, as well as a café, also with ancient foods mentioned in the Book.

National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST), Athens, Greece

After a teaser in October 2016, the National Museum of Contemporary Art (EMST) in Athens’s relocation is finally completed and its opening is due this fall. After a comprehensive architecture competition, EMST awarded 3SK Stylianidis Architects, I. Mouzakis & Associate Architects, Tim Ronalds Architects, and K. Kontozoglou the chance to collaborate to renovate the museum.

Remai Modern, Saskatchewan, Canada

Canada’s newest contemporary art museum, Remai Modern in Saskatchewan, opened officially the past October. The modernist building, by the Canadian architect Bruce Kuwabara, features a rough 130,000 sqft of raw space which available to be used for different exhibits and initiatives.

Musée Yves Saint Laurent, Marrakech

The Musée Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech also opened up in October. It aims to celebrate Saint Laurent’s life’s work as a most prominent figure in 20th century fashion design. Designed by French architecture firm Studio KO, the museum will feature, besides the permanent collection of Saint Laurent originals by Christophe Martin, a gallery, café, and restaurant.

King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia

This museum is scheduled to open anytime now in late 2017. Its remarkably futuristic design is praised by architects and enthusiasts all over the world and was produced by Norwegian architecture firm Snøhetta. The cultural center will include a cinema, museum, auditorium and a library which will allegedly hold 220,000 books in Arabic and English, and keep space for another 500,000.

Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, Cape Town, South Africa

The Zeitz MOCAA is a 100,000 sqft space, the first of its kind in Africa, as it is fully dedicated to contemporary art. It is located within the Grain Silo Complex, designed by Thomas Heatherwick, and it is also the largest African museum to premier in the past 100+ years. It opened up on September 22nd.

Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami

Scheduled to open in December, the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami is located in an impressive 20,000 sqft space filled with galleries and a public garden decorated with cutting-edge sculpture work. Aranguren + Gallegos Arquitectos were the architects behind the building’s design, while the Sculpture Garden was topped off by Project-Space/Jonathan Caplan and Fernando Wong.

Don’t miss out on any of these amazing museums and the experiences each of them has to offer! Stay tuned onto DesignMuseum for more updates like this, because soon enough we’ll be covering the exhibits in these very same venues!

Singer Laren Museum Extension by KRFT