What makes a museum building successful? Until the arrival of Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim in Bilbao in 1997, this question might have been almost exclusively focused on the best environments in which to view art. But the Guggenheim’s phenomenal success, which allowed the Basque government to recoup the construction costs within three years, moved the debate on to issues of branding and statement architecture.

Now the discussion has moved on again. — theartnewspaper.com

An apartment building known as the “holy land of manga” due to its famous former tenants is to be rebuilt and opened as a museum of manga and anime in Tokyo’s Toshima Ward.

Tokiwaso, which was demolished more than 30 years ago, will be reconstructed in a park [...] Past occupants included “God of manga” Osamu Tezuka, the author of “Astro Boy,” who lived there in the 1950s; Fujiko Fujio of “Doraemon” fame; “Cyborg 009” creator Shotaro Ishinomori; and “Osomatsukun” artist Fujio Akatsuka. — asahi.com

The museum, which will open on Tennozu Isle in Tokyo’s Shinagawa district will not only be a place for these models to be displayed, but also act as an effort to preserve them.

The space will be lined with over 100 shelves to display their permanent collection, in addition to special exhibits. Each model in the museum will be accompanied by a QR code which can be scanned using a smartphone to access more information about the structure, including photos of the completed work. — popupcity.net

The Art Fund’s Museum of the Year shortlist was announced...with Bristol’s Arnolfini; the Bethlem Museum of the Mind in south London; Jupiter Artland near Edinburgh; London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and the York Art Gallery in the north of England being nominated for the £100,000 prize. — theartnewspaper.com

An “Inflatable Museum” is about to be launched in Greater Manchester with the aim of bringing exhibits and educational programmes to schools in disadvantaged districts of the city.

It is transportable in a van, can be blown up in under half an hour and can accommodate a full school class. It incorporates moveable cabinets, a large open presentation area and high definition projection equipment. — globalconstructionreview.com

To those concerned about the renovation of the Hood Museum of Art, the situation is charged with paradox: The architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams, who protested the Museum of Modern Art’s dismantling of the Folk Art Museum they designed in Manhattan, are now transforming the Hood, an award-winning museum designed by Charles Moore [...].

“It’s almost as if they were getting revenge for what MoMA did to their Folk Art Museum [...] It’s totally insensitive to the Moore building.” — nytimes.com

The contemporary design champion is moving from its current location in Shad Thames to the former Commonwealth Institute building, a Grade II*-listed 1960s landmark conceived by architects RJMM.

Its new home, which is being remodelled by designer John Pawson, will provide three times more space and have a learning centre, auditorium, library and a ‘Designers in Residence’ studio. — thespaces.com

That the skin is an exercise in advanced digital fabrication, applied with such élan is, in itself, a proclamation, a sort of late-career renaissance, which thrusts the firm into a next generation spotlight.

Whether naively assuming (wrongly) that Los Angeles was ready for a jolt of architectural electricity, or sincerely reflecting a populist genre (rightly), Kohn succeeded in outflanking its neighbors, and disrupting the conventions governing the museum establishment. — Craig Hodgetts – formmag.net

The people of Geneva have narrowly rejected a controversial plan to extend and renovate the city’s Musée d’Art et d’Histoire by the French architect Jean Nouvel. The “non” camp won the public vote on 28 February with 54%.  
 
Ateliers Jean Nouvel in Paris designed the planned extension, which was approved by Geneva’s municipal council last May, in collaboration with the local firms Architectures Jucker and DVK Architectes.[...]

The council must now launch a new competition for the museum. — theartnewspaper.com

Deborah Berke’s appointment last year as the first female dean of the Yale School of Architecture might have brought her into the limelight, but the architect and interior designer had already been getting attention for her work on 21c Museum Hotels, a small chain of boutique properties doubling as art galleries. [...]

In old buildings, you’re taking what you find and complementing that with the architecture and design of today. — nytimes.com

Online visitors from around the world can now explore the interior of the iconic Frank Lloyd Wright–designed Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum through Google Street View technology. Additionally, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, in collaboration with the Google Cultural Institute, has made available over 120 artworks from its collection for online viewing. [...]

The Guggenheim’s architecture presented unique challenges for Google’s engineers and Street View team. — guggenheim.org

Mumbai’s gigantic slums are one of the city’s most prominent—and problematic—features. Dharavi, located in the heart of Mumbai, is home to upwards of 1.5 million people, giving it the distinction of being one of the largest slums in all of Asia. [...] it will also be home to what organizers are calling the first slum museum. [...]

The museum itself will be a small, flexible mobile structure, which will make it easy for it to be pulled through the slum’s streets on a bike or small vehicle. — smithsonianmag.com

The Armenian American Museum unveiled its conceptual design at the Glendale City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 8, 2015. [...]

The Armenian American Museum concept designed by Alajajian Marcoosi Architects will include exhibitions space, resource center, a performing arts theater, and classrooms. [...] The 1.7 acre property on the corner of Verdugo Road and Mountain Street will also serve as the location for a memorial to the victims of the Armenian Genocide. — Armenian American Museum