Teshima Art Museum is a round, concrete, sloping building set into a hill by the sea, in a remote island off Okayama. (Photo: Todoroki/ Instagram) There are two kinds of people in every travel group: one that likes visiting museums, and the other that doesn’t. For those who do, the country’s culture, traditions, and history lay enveloped under one roof. And sometimes, these buildings defy what our minds conjure up for museums, going beyond just elemental brick and concrete creations.
While the art gracing the walls of these museums speak for themselves, the museums, too, are architectural works of art.
If you are a fan of visiting different museums, you’re in for a treat! Let us know how many have you visited.
Azerbaijan Carpet Museum
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Earlier housed in a 15th century mosque, the Azerbaijan Carpet Museum in Baku got a makeover in 2014 — and was designed to resemble a partially unrolled carpet. The museum is home to 10,000 carpets, and its new structure was designed by Franz Janz.
Museo Tamayo, Mexico City
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The museum, home to artist Rufino Tamayo’s collection, is designed to blur the lines between the natural and the manmade. Situated in the Chapultepec Forest, the building merges designs of people like Frank Lloyd Wright and I. M. Pei with native architectural traditions of its home country.
Kunst Haus Vienna
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Designed by environmentalist Friedensreich Hundertwasser, the Kunst Haus Vienna was made after renovating a late 19th Century furniture factory. The designer gave the façade a patchwork look with the help of mosaic, black and white grid, with splashes of colour, all the while carefully avoiding symmetry as Hundertwasser has famously declared that straight lines are “godless and immoral.” The museum also features a rooftop garden and a fountain in the lobby.
Teshima Art Museum
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At The Teshima Art Museum, located in a remote island off Okayama, only one Japanese artist‘s work takes the whole stage, and that is Matrix (2010) by Rei Nato. The round concrete museum is a sloping building set into a hill by the sea, the island’s main attraction.
Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain
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Designed to resemble the ships that pass through the river that the museum is located by, the Guggenheim Bilbao was completed in 1977. Designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry, the museum is located in Bilbao in the picturesque Basque Country. It revived the region and attracted tourists both national and international.
Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, Rio de Janeiro
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Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer finished the Niterói Contemporary Art Museum in 1996. He designed the building like a flying saucer at the edge of a cliff that overlooks the bay commanding panoramic views of Rio de Janeiro. A winding path in red concrete leads up to the museum which opens to blue carpets and furniture designed by the architect’s daughter, Anna Maria Niemeyer. The building was designed keeping a flower blooming from Earth in mind.
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