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ART DEPOT
Museum franchising seems to be a growing trend. The Guggenheim is a well established worldwide franchise, and The Louvre is on its way. The New York-based Museum of Modern Art and Dia Art Foundation each have two sites, while the London-based Tate has four. Published 2007.0530
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NORTHERN STAR
Creating dramatic architecture can be challenging in an icy climate where people prioritize function over flamboyance and where the natural environment can satisfy their desire for beauty. The state of Alaska has breathtaking vistas of mountains, snow flats, and the dancing aurora borealis, but its urban landscapes have tended to remain resilient and simple. Published 2007.0502
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KUROKAWA ART CENTER
According to architect Kisho Kurokawa, the new National Art Center Tokyo is a perfect expression of his philosophy of symbiosis. Rather than trying to iron out irregularities and resolve contradictions into what he calls a "dull, flat harmony," his distinctly non-Western idea seeks to apply conflicts and tensions in positive ways to achieve interesting and energizing effects. Published 2007.0404
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MERCEDES-BENZ BUILDING
With the bulging prow of its aluminum and glass skeleton looming beside the fast lanes of Highway B14 in Stuttgart, Germany, the new Mercedes-Benz Museum lives up to the German automaker's refined engineering image. On entering the structure designed by the Dutch firm UN Studio, visitors ascend eight stories to the top, then wind down twin ramps through a collection of 160 vehicles displayed over 178,000 square feet (16,500 square meters) of exhibition space. Published 2006.0830
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POSTCARD FROM ROME
Dear ArchitectureWeek,
In April 2006, the new Ara Pacis Museum in Rome, designed by Richard Meier & Partners, is scheduled to officially open. But as I found on my recent visit, there's still a bit of work left to be done, and much of the museum is still under wraps. Published 2006.0329
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SAN FRANCISCO'S NEW DE YOUNG
With its all-encompassing copper skin and nine-story twisting ascent to an Olympian view of San Francisco's skyline, the new de Young Museum presides imperially over Golden Gate Park. Published 2006.0301
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CONSTRUCTING OSAKA ART
Until recently, the site of Osaka Japan's National Museum of Contemporary Art, one of three national contemporary art museums in Japan, was at the far edge of the city, on the former site of the 1970 World's Fair. The museum had planned to move from this distant suburb to a central urban location in the middle of Nakanoshima Island, part of a planned cultural arts district that has great potential to activate and energize an integral part of the city. Published 2006.0222
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PIANO TONE
The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia now bears the signatures of two living masters. Richard Meier designed the original in 1983; the expansion by Renzo Piano opened in November, 2005. The new addition reinforces Piano's reputation as a designer of cultural palaces that are distinctive without being ostentatious — and spare without an overly minimalist chill. Published 2005.1130
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ART URBANE
The contemporary art museum increasingly shares responsibility for the well-being of its parent city, supporting tourism and its consequent revenue, and galvanizing local redevelopment.
So the Figge, a new museum by British firm David Chipperfield Architects, on the banks of the Mississippi River in Davenport, Iowa, not only envelopes its collections in a luminous and strictly orthogonal embrace, but it stands as a glowing emblem for the regeneration of Davenport's riverfront downtown. Published 2005.1109
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BRAZILIAN COMMUNICATIONS
A 1918 building in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil has been transformed into a museum for that most modern and fast-changing of technologies: telecommunications. The building's various facades reflect both its historic roots and its modern purpose. This makeover for Rio's Telecommunications Museum appropriately reflects the remarkable evolution of technology over the past century. Published 2005.0622
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