PermMuseum XXI
Artforum reports that the PermMuseumXXI museum center has finally announced the winning architectural firms in the competition for a new building for Perm Art Gallery, a museum in Russia slated to focus on the twenty-first century.

Winning design by Bernaskoni (Source: ArchCenter / PermMuseum XXI)

 The architectural firms Bernaskoni (Russia) and Valerio Olgiati (Switzerland) are the joint winners of the design competition. Zaha Hadid, based in London, was awarded the third prize. It took the jury, led by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor, two days to decide how to distribute 240.000 dollar prize money among the winners.

Serpentine Pavilion 2008
Frank Gehry’s plans for the Serpentine Gallery’s 2008 pavilion have been unveiled, reports Artdaily. Gehry said: “The pavilion is much like an amphitheater, designed to serve as a place for live events, music, performance, discussion, and debate.”

Model of Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008 designed by Frank Gehry © Gehry Partners LLP 2008 

The highly articulated structure – designed and engineered in collaboration with Arup – comprises large timber planks and multiple glass planes that soar and swoop at different angles to create a dramatic multi-dimensional space. The pavilion will be the architect’s first built structure in England and his first time collaborating with his son Samuel.

 Her Majesty Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands, during a guided tour of CORPUS, which opened to the public on March 20th 2008.

Ever wanted to take a stroll through the human body? A new museum in the Netherlands lets you do just that. CORPUS (Latin for ‘body’) is a new museum on the outskirts of the Hague in the Netherlands that is both a science education centre and an amusement park. It offers a ‘journey through the human body’ during which the visitor can see, feel and hear how the human body works and what roles healthy food, healthy life and plenty of exercise plays.

The museum attraction offers a variety of information and provides education and entertainment with this journey as well as a vast number of permanent and variable exhibitions. This concept has been realised in a 35-meter high transparent building, which incorporates an awkward looking seated human figure that reaches 35meters high.

The makers of the museum attraction are hoping that a combination amusement park and health education museum will encourage kids to take better care of their own bodies. Questions as ‘Why do I have to sleep?’, ‘what happens when I sneeze’, ‘how does my hair grow’ are answered in CORPUS by means of tangible, visible and audible conceptions. They have used the latest technology in the field of imagery, sound and 3D effects to present and explain all aspects of the medical aspects of the human body.

The awkward looking body/building that houses CORPUS is situated along the A44 highway between Amsterdam and The Hague in The Netherlands.

Click here for more information and images from WTOL
Read an article (Building, March 27, 2008)
Go to CORPUS website