6 Architectural Museums Worth Traveling the World For
It’s no easy feat creating a museum about architecture. After all, how can you possibly fit a discipline that brokers in buildings into one single building? It turns out there are quite a few ways, actually, each seemingly more inventive than the next. When news hit this summer that Tokyo’s new (and only!) architectural model museum Archi-Depot opened in the Shinagawa ward, we were inspired to revisit some of the great cultural institutions dedicated to the craft of architecture in all its iterations. Whether devoted to the often unseen and hugely underappreciated art of model-building or serving as a nexus for conversations about architecture and the world, these institutions are each essential in pushing the discipline forward while taking care to preserve its rich past. Here are six of our favorites.
Archi-Depot Museum, Tokyo
Upon its 2016 opening, Tokyo’s Archi-Depot museum became the first of its kind in Japan—a showcase for models by the country’s most celebrated architects, among them Pritzker Prize winner Shigeru Ban , Kengo Kuma and Riken Yamamoto. Living up to its name, Archi-Depot also offers rental storage space for architects to house their models, freeing up much needed space in their cramped Tokyo offices.
Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montreal
Founded in 1979 by architect-philanthropist Phyllis Lambert (best known for bringing Mies van der Rohe on to design her family’s Seagram building in New York), the Canadian Centre for Architecture bills itself as a nontraditional museum that encourages the public to think about the intersection of architecture and society. The 164,000-square-foot building was designed by architect Peter Rose and features several exhibition halls, a conservation studio, and a sculpture garden.
National Building Museum, Washington, D.C.
Founded in 1985 and housed in D.C.’s late-19th-century Pension Building, the National Building Museum has a mission to enhance public understanding of the built environment, from early designs to physical construction. Recently, the museum has gained national attention through its diverse programming, including The Beach , in which design firm Snarkitecture transformed the institution’s Great Hall into a larger-than-life ball pit.
Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, Paris
Situated on the Place du Trocadéro in Paris’s 16th arrondissement, the Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine opened in 2007 as an homage to its home country’s rich architectural past. Containing a sizable architectural library in addition to its exhibition spaces, the museum’s most frequented attraction, however, is its Musée des Monuments Français, a plaster-cast collection of Gothic and Medieval architectural elements.
The Skyscraper Museum, New York City
A little-known gem located in Manhattan’s Battery Park City, the Skyscraper Museum was founded in 1996 by Columbia University professor and architectural historian Carol Wills to celebrate the history and personalities behind the towers that define New York’s skyline. Following 9/11, the museum was forced out of its original home for three years, reopening in 2004 in a newly designed building by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill’s Roger Duffy.
Richard Meier’s Architectural Model Museum, Jersey City, New Jersey
Opening to much fanfare in the spring of 2014, Richard Meier’s model museum is an appointment-only institution tucked away on the campus of Mana Contemporary in Jersey City. Housed in a 15,000-square-foot warehouse, the collection is composed of over 400 intricately crafted models, 200 drawings, and 50 sculptures, all relics of the architect’s 50-plus years (and counting) in practice.