ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

American Museums: Milestones for the Future

architecture-design · 2026-04-23

The United States is experiencing an unprecedented boom in museum construction and expansion. Renowned architects, predominantly European—Herzog & de Meuron, Santiago Calatrava, Zaha Hadid, and especially Renzo Piano—alongside Japanese figures Shigeru Ban, Yoshio Taniguchi, and Kazuyo Sejima, are building or extending art museums in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and provincial cities such as Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Atlanta.

Key facts

  • The United States is seeing an unprecedented boom in museums.
  • Architects include Herzog & de Meuron, Santiago Calatrava, Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, Shigeru Ban, Yoshio Taniguchi, and Kazuyo Sejima.
  • Projects are located in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Atlanta.
  • Most architects are European or Japanese.
  • Renzo Piano is particularly prominent among the European architects.
  • The article was published in artpress in December 2005.
  • The PDF is available for download.
  • The boom involves both construction and extension of art museums.

Entities

Artists

  • Herzog & de Meuron
  • Santiago Calatrava
  • Zaha Hadid
  • Renzo Piano
  • Shigeru Ban
  • Yoshio Taniguchi
  • Kazuyo Sejima

Institutions

  • artpress

Locations

  • United States
  • New York
  • Chicago
  • Los Angeles
  • Milwaukee
  • Cincinnati
  • Kansas City
  • Atlanta

Sources