American museum building designs, US contemporary art space architecture, United States of America architects

American Museum Building Designs

Key contemporary American public institution architectural developments. Modern United States of America built environment designs.

post updated November 13, 2025

American Architecture Links : links

US Museum Building Designs

This page contains a selection of major American museum building designs, with links to individual project pages. We’ve selected what we feel are the key American museums, but building additions are always welcome.

We’ve selected what we feel are the key examples of American museum building designs. We aim to include US museum projects that are either of top quality or interesting, or ideally both.

We cover completed US buildings, new designs, architectural exhibitions and architecture competitions across the USA. The focus is on contemporary US museums but information on traditional buildings is also welcome.

We have 2 pages of American Museum Architecture selections with links to many individual project pages.

American Museum Buildings : main page with key buildings + new designs

American Museum Building Designs : projects from K-Z (this page)

American Museum Designs : Archive up to 2011

US Museum Building – Recent Design

US Museum Building Designs, chronological:

Feb 17, 2021
The Momentary in Bentonville, Bentonville, Arkansas
Design: Wheeler Kearns Architects

photograph : Tom Harris Architectural Photography
The Momentary is a new contemporary art space envisaged as a satellite to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Led by Chicago-based Wheeler Kearns Architects, the adaptive reuse project saw the 63,000-square-foot decommissioned cheese factory into a multidisciplinary space for visual, performing, and culinary artists. The firm was
tasked with envisioning the Momentary’s aim of creating a space offering a unique experience unlike a traditional museum.

Contemporary Art Museum Raleigh, Raleigh, North Carolina
Design: Brooks + Scarpa

picture from architects
Located in Raleigh’s revitalizing Historic Depot District, an unlikely butterfly has emerged from its decades-long cocoon. The historic 1910 two-story brick structure built for Allen Forge & Welding Company and enlarged around 1927 for the Brogden Produce Company — and more recently home to longtime occupant Cal-Tone Paints — has emerged from its asbestos clad sheathing into a new incarnation as the home of Raleigh’s Contemporary Art Museum (CAM).

North Carolina Museum of Art Building
Design: Thomas Phifer and Partners

picture © Scott Frances. Courtesy NCMA
This is a 127,000-sqft, single-story project. The West Building, which opened to the public in 2010, is the central component of the Museum’s recently completed three-year expansion. It dramatically transformed the visitor experience of both the Museum itself and the 164-acre park in which it is sited, and with which West Building is visually and experientially integrated.

Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA
Design: Randall Stout Architects, Inc.

photo © Timothy Hursley
To accommodate rapid growth in its collections and programs, the Taubman Museum of Art commissioned Los Angeles based architect Randall Stout, principal of the firm of Randall Stout Architects, Inc., to design a new 81,000 sqft building commensurate with its ambition to become a gateway arts institution in western Virginia and its area of the United States. Located at one of Roanoke’s most visible and historic downtown intersections, the Taubman Museum of Art is the first major purpose-built museum ever constructed in the city.

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia
Design: Rick Mather Architects

image Travis Fullerton © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
$150m site wide masterplan and expansion
The new 15,330m2 (165,000 sq.ft) McGlothlin Wing opens VMFA up to the city and provides extensive new space for the museum’s collections and study centre. The museum reports that this expansion makes them one of the ten largest encyclopaedic museums in the United States and was described by the Director Alex Nyerges as “nothing short of spectacular.”