In 2025, the Year of Museums, seven stunning initiatives with standout architectural designs will open their doors across cities, from Paris to Abu Dhabi, adding to the rich cultural continuum. The Palais de la Découverte is growing amid its great ruins as the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi ascends from the desert sands. A few museums are undergoing renovations, some open for the first time, and new ideas for cultural venues are emerging. Here’s a look at these places, which are poised to make a big splash in 2025 and beyond.
The Fondation Cartier is packing its bags and leaving the glitzy glass shell it occupies on Boulevard Raspail in central Paris. The new building, a design by Jean Nouvel, converts a former department store into a cathedral of light, establishing a direct dialogue between contemporary art and the historic-to-neo-classical treasures of the district. This shift looks set to draw a new zeigeist of visitors, a successful wrest between scissors and cape. The Fondation Cartier is scheduled to open in December 2025.
At the same time, the Palais de la Découverte, a beloved science museum in Paris, is undergoing an extraordinary transformation, keeping much of its spirit while upgrading its installations. Visitors will meet a new astronomical observatory, find an equatorial garden, and enjoy revamped interactive experiences. The redone museum, which will open June 6, 2025, is of a piece with the work done at the Grand Palais for the 2024 Olympic Games.
FENIX, a new museum devoted to the stories of migration told through artistic expression, will open in Rotterdam on May 16, 2025. Housing a 16,000-square-meter port warehouse, FENIX tells stories of journeys and how they can lead to new beginnings; a spiral staircase in the center of the space is intended to represent global migration routes. The unseen numbers will be given voice by photography and installation art, abstract narratives spun into vivid expressions.
The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi will open on Saadiyat Island in September 2025 after more than a decade of work. The futuristic museum, designed by Frank Gehry, will act as a destination for contemporary art, education and intercultural dialogue, reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s place as a leading cultural destination in the Middle East.
The Studio Museum in Harlem will reopen in a new building, designed by David Adjaye, in October 2025 after 56 years of exhibitions and seven years of renovation. With its glass façade, the museum will symbolize a bridge between the institution and Harlem that will enhance its mission as a home for artists of African heritage.
Naoshima Island in Japan will get the Naoshima New Museum of Art in spring 2025. The museum, designed by the renowned architect Tadao Ando, will highlight artwork from Asia and include exhibitions, talks and workshops in a bid to reinforce connections to the local community and solidify the island’s international reputation for its harmonious mingling of art and nature.
And finally, the New Museum in New York will expand in November 2025 with an extension courtesy of OMA, which Shohei Shigematsu and Rem Koolhaas designed. This expansion will include artist residencies and the NEW INC cultural incubator, further establishing the museum as a laboratory for the art forms of the future.
