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Four years after a devastating blaze wiped out the majority of its incredible 20 million-object collection, the rebuilding of Brazil’s fire-damaged National Museum has reached an important construction milestone in Rio de Janeiro. According to The Art Newspaper, local firms Velatura... View full entry
Lanfranco Cirillo, the designer of a mysterious 18,000 sq. m mansion on the Black Sea that many believe was built for the Russian President Vladimir Putin, is being investigated by the Italian authorities for allegedly failing to pay a €50m tax bill. Officials raided the 63-year-old Italian architect’s own sizeable villa in February, where they discovered and confiscated a treasure trove of works by artists including Pablo Picasso, Paul Cézanne, [and] Wassily Kandinsky. — The Art Newspaper
The architect’s private helicopter was also confiscated by Italian authorities, who have been on a tear as of late, seizing yachts and other luxury items from Russian nationals associated with President Vladimir Putin. Cirillo is well known as the man behind the biggest gem in Putin’s... View full entry
During his time in power, as head of state and as leader of the all-powerful, secularist Ba’th party, Saddam would oversee an unprecedented program of monumental development across the historic city of Baghdad. This was not limited to monuments of war and hollow bronze shells, but enormous palatial complexes, museums, art galleries, and civic squares [...] marshal it, awkwardly, unevenly, into the post-industrial age, a modern city shaped by the aspirations and egotistical tastes of a despot. — failedarchitecture.com
Related stories in the Archinect news:Iraq honors Zaha Hadid with commemorative stamp — which features rejected Tokyo stadium designDestruction of Iraq’s oldest Christian monastery by ISIS militants went unreported for 16 months View full entry
