Although usually we go to museums to admire the art, sculptures, designs that are actually inside them, we must not forget that sometimes the museum’s structure itself might just be very worth admiring on its own. And these 13 museums around the world are probably some of the most jaw-dropping and amazing architectural pieces you will be seeing in a while.
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THE BIESBOSCH MUSEUM
This unique museum in Werkendam, the Netherlands, is covered in grass and features a walkway on the roof that’s surrounded by small grassy mounds and leads to a lookout at one end, which you can see in the picture below.
Photos © Ronald Tilleman
THE ROSE MUSEUM
The Rose Museum is located in Beijing, China, and it is essentially a large structure covered in a thick layer of stainless steel with a rose-shaped pattern stamped all over the exterior. It doesn’t get much more unique than this…
Photos © Xiao Kaixiong
THE MESSNER MOUNTAIN MUSEUM CORONES
Located in South Tyrol, Italy, this contemporary museum exterior was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and it is made from thick concrete. Embedded into the mountain, the museum projects out to provide incredible views of the valley below and the mountains surrounding it.
Photos © Zaha Hadid Architects
LEN LYE CENTRE
A curved and reflective stainless steel surrounds the exterior of the Len Lye Centre. Even before going inside, the audience is already mesmerized by this unique visual experience.
Photos © Patrick Reynolds
THE BROAD
Probably best known for its Infinity Mirrored Room exhibition, The Broad Museum in Los Angeles is covered in a perforated ‘veil’ that provides filtered light to the museum throughout the day and creates a skeletal system that protects the vault of storage and archives located inside the museum.
Photos © Iwan Baan for The Broad
Baroque Museum
The curved concrete surrounding the exterior of the Baroque Museum in Mexico, was in part meant to represent the exaggerated movements often associated with traditional baroque art while creating a modern-looking structure.
Photos © Patrick Lopez Jaimes / Danstek
MUSEUM OF FIRE
Located in Zory, Poland, this museum was built as a tribute to the fire that took out an entire forest and made way for the development of the Polish city.
Photos © Tomasz Zakrzewski / archifolio
SUMIDA HOKUSAI MUSEUM
Photo © Vincent Hecht
The geometric cutouts around the large museum in Tokyo, Japan, allow for diffused natural light to enter the museum and give the structure a clean, modern design. The mirrored structure also enables a more natural and intertwined connection to the building’s surroundings.
MUSEUM OF ROCK
Photo © Ossip van Duivenbode
Golden anodized aluminum studs cover the exterior of the Museum of Rock in Roskilde, Denmark, as a tribute to the rock stars who often decked out their outfits in studs, while a red carpet entrance represents the red velvet inside a guitar case.
SHANGHAI NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM
Photo © James and Connor Steinkamp
The museum’s structure incorporates various natural elements in the exterior design of the museum including a cellular wall, inspired by the cells making up all humans and plants, a green wall and grass roof that represents the vegetation found all over the planet, and a stone wall surrounded by water to represent the moving tectonic plates and the erosion that occurs over time from water and plants.
LA GOTA CULTURAL CENTER
Photo © Miguel de Guzman
To represent the brick facades of the traditional brick builds that were used to dry tobacco, the exterior of the La Gota Cultural Center and Tobacco Museum in Navalmoral de la Mata, Spain, has been covered in a flexible ceramic that allows natural light into the building.
LA CITÉ DU VIN
Photo © XTU/ANAKA/La Cité du Vin
The wine museum in Bordeaux, France, was given a swirl-like design on the bottom part to symbolize the swirling of wine in a glass, while the tower is meant to represent grapes growing on a vine.
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART | THE PLANNING EXHIBITION
The two massive structures that put together the museum and the exhibition in Shenzhen, China, have been surrounded by a geometric facade made of natural stone louvers and insulated glass to create the look of a single modern building.
Photos © Duccio Malagamba
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