“In 2018, a total of $8 billion was spent on the construction of 148 new museums and cultural institutions across the globe,” according to the most recent Cultural Infrastructure Index, “a report that charts investments in new art museums and cultural institutions worldwide,” writes Hakim Bishara in Friday’s (8/30) Hyperallergic.com. “North America leads the list of announced or completed projects, but China hosts the most expensive projects…. Europe has cut back on their investments, while New Zealand and Australia have shown an increase in new projects. The report … focuses on projects with a budget of $10 million or more [including] museums, performing arts centers, and cultural hubs or districts…. ‘The announced trend line seems remarkably constant over the past three years…,’ AEA Consulting writes in the report. The value of completed projects in Asia has risen from $1.5 billion to $2.1 billion…. North America continues to lead by the number of projects (58 completed, 51 announced) as it did the past two years…. Europe takes the second place (44 completed, 34 announced), and Asia the third (26 completed, 14 announced).… Museums [comprise] a little over half of the total number of newly constructed cultural institutions.”
Posted September 4, 2019
In photo: The new Strait Culture and Art Centre in Fuzhou, China. Photo by Marc Goodwin, courtesy of PES-Architects
