Architectural Digest | The 9 Most Architecturally Significant Museum Openings This Fall

This fall, a number of cities around the world will celebrate the openings of major new museums—many of them with architecture as worthy of awe as the art itself. Some openings, like the Jean Nouvel–designed Louvre Abu Dhabi, will be seismic events for the architectural world. Others, like the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Jakarta, signal the maturation of their country’s flourishing arts scenes into subjects of international interest. From Cape Town’s Zeitz Museum—the first major museum in Africa devoted exclusively to contemporary art—to the Bible Museum in Washington, D.C., where visitors can roam a garden filled with plants referenced in the good book, the next few months will bring a bounty of new places to wander, learn, and find inspiration for years to come.

Museum of the Bible, Washington, D.C.
A few blocks from both the Capitol and the National Mall, the 430,0000-square foot Museum of the Bible (designed by SmithGroupJJR) plans to welcome its first crowds this November. The private museum is being funded by Hobby Lobby President Steve Green, who will also provide 40,000 artifacts from his collection, including papyrus fragments of the New Testament. Old Bibles and archives aren’t the only items on the docket, however; the museum is also slated to include immersive experiences like a biblical garden, where visitors can see what a hyssop bush or a rose of Sharon looks like before nibbling ancient snacks like flatbread and date honey in the café.