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Architecture

The structure is a nod to clouds and tree canopies, not the starship that many imagine when they first see the building, according to its architect Ma Yansong.

The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, a New Endeavor From the Creator of ‘Star Wars,’ Is a Story in Itself

Almost two decades in the making, the institution centers on art that shapes our everyday lives and reveals the craft behind it

The 2,500-year-old temple, photographed in 2009

New Research

Centuries Ago, an Architect Characterized the Parthenon’s Curves as a Clever Optical Illusion. Now, a Mathematician Begs to Differ

In the first century B.C.E., Vitruvius wrote that the Acropolis’ largest temple was horizontally bowed so that it didn’t seem to sag, and that explanation persisted for millennia. New research suggests a different reason

The center opened in December 2025.

Montana Built a $107 Million Museum. Its Smallest Room Says a Lot About the Thought That Went Into Designing the Space

The Montana Heritage Center in Helena has a smudge room. It is open to the public and teaches non-Native visitors why a room dedicated to the burning of cleansing materials, a practice of many Indigenous cultures, is needed

The house was commissioned in 1938 and built in 1939.

A Frank Lloyd Wright House in L.A. Is in Danger of ‘Demolition by Neglect,’ Say Advocates

The visionary designed this two-bedroom, one-bathroom in his affordable Usonian style. It’s the only house of its kind in L.A.

Records uncovered by researcher Christopher Moore indicate that stones from Sandown Castle were repurposed in a Victorian-era extension of Constable's Gate at Dover Castle (pictured here).

Cool Finds

Stones From One of Henry VIII’s Fortresses Spent More Than a Century Hidden in Plain Sight. New Research Suggests the Victorians Repurposed Them as Building Materials

Recently discovered archival records indicate that workers constructing an extension of the Constable’s Gate at Dover Castle in the late 19th century reused fragments of the Tudor-era Sandown Castle

Hundreds of people pulled the keep of Hirosaki Castle closer to its original position.

1,800 Volunteers Pull a 400-Ton Japanese Castle Keep Back Toward Its Original Location After a Decade of Restoration Work

The chance to help move the castle keep drew thousands of applications from Japan and abroad. Groups of lottery winners took turns tugging on thick ropes attached to the massive structure

How did Europeans build enormous, complex cathedrals before they had complex mathematics? 

How Did Medieval Builders Construct Complex Cathedrals Before Advanced Mathematics? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Diego Rivera’s private collection of pre-Columbian art at the Anahuacalli Museum, which expanded and reopened in 2021.

Stunning Antiquities and Frida Kahlo’s Home Are Just Some of the Offerings That Have Bolstered Mexico City’s Fantastic Array of Museums

The ancient capital has plenty of artwork and fossils, if that’s what you like. Or tour the writing rooms of a Nobel winner, the fortified home of an exiled Russian revolutionary and towers of skulls

Schlitz beer advertised on grain operators along the Chicago River in 1900.

Schlitz Beer, an Iconic Midwestern Pour, Runs Dry in Chicago After 177 Years. Its Legacy, However, Goes Far Beyond the Pint Glass

With significant roles in the Great Chicago Fire, 1893 World’s Fair and modern-day architecture, the beer’s impact on the Windy City is undeniable

The interior of the Glasgow School of Art’s Mackintosh building, which was significantly damaged by fire in 2018. This photo is from 2023.

Fires and Financial Trouble Leave the Fate of Two Arts Buildings Uncertain in This Scottish City—Including a Century-Old Masterpiece

The historic Glasgow School of Art and the more modern Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Arts were both affected by a significant blaze in 2018

The quake rocked Kumamoto on the Japanese island of Kyushu.

This 400-Year-Old Impenetrable Japanese Castle That Survived a Samurai Siege Just Crumbled in an Earthquake

In 1877, a force rebelling against Emperor Meiji attacked Kumamoto Castle on Japan’s southern Kyushu island

The Watts Towers, a 17-structure architectural landmark, were built between 1921 and 1954. 

The Iconic Watts Towers in Los Angeles Will Get a $22 Million Campus Expansion Ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics

Five acres of green space will surround the 17-structure landmark, a folk art masterpiece that an Italian immigrant built over the course of three decades

The museum has already curated a collection of hundreds of artworks.

See the New Frank Gehry Building Rising From the Shore of the Persian Gulf in Abu Dhabi to House a Global Art Collection

Officials just announced a December opening for the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, the long-awaited fourth installment in the Guggenheim Foundation’s lineup of art museums

Closed since 2020, the Cinerama Dome is set to reopen in early 2028. 

Hollywood’s Iconic Cinerama Dome, One of the World’s Most Famous Movie Theaters, Is Set to Reopen in Early 2028

Shuttered since the Covid-19 pandemic, the Los Angeles landmark is being revived as more Americans buy tickets to see movies in theaters

Located on the River Thames in London, the Tower of London has stood for nearly 1,000 years.

The Tower of London Plans to Turn Its Moat Into a ‘Green Classroom’ and Show Off Its Architecture Archives in a Major Renovation

The landmark, nearly a millennium old, has housed kings, hosted royal executions and safeguarded Britain’s crown jewels. New education centers aim to invite more people to learn about that history

The Canopus, a pool at Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli, Italy

How Has Roman Concrete Lasted for Millennia? A 1,900-Year-Old Latrine Offers New Clues About the Material’s Impressive Durability

A chemical process called carbonation, which helps seal cracks, could help explain why many ancient Roman structures are still standing today. Researchers hope that the insights will lead to better modern-day building materials

Frank Gehry’s Icehenge desk in the Inland Steel Building in Chicago

‘Like an Explosion in a Glass Factory’: Frank Gehry’s Seven-Ton ‘Icehenge’ Desk That Once Graced a Skyscraper Lobby Is Up for Auction

Designed for the Inland Steel Building in Chicago, the desk is made from more than a dozen blocks of jagged, green-tinted glass

The country’s oldest specialty smallpox hospital in New York City

America's 250th Anniversary

The Oldest Black Church in the U.S., the Wright Brothers’ Home and a New York Hospital Are Among the American Heritage Sites in Urgent Need of Preservation

For its “Irreplaceable America” list in honor of the 250th birthday of the United States, the World Monuments Fund chose endangered historic sites of innovation, creativity and spirituality to publicize and support

A circa 1846 photo of the Patent Office Building

This Building Hosted Lincoln’s Inaugural Ball and Displayed the Declaration of Independence. Today, It’s Home to Two World-Class Art Museums

The Old Patent Office Building now houses the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. A new exhibition spotlights the structure’s rich history of encouraging innovation

Gaps in the western pediment have been filled in with marble blocks.

Greece Restored Part of the Parthenon’s Western Facade, Revealing Its Original Shape Not Seen in Centuries

The project in Athens started in 2017 and involved quarrying, transporting, hand-carving and placing new marble blocks in one of the landmark’s triangular pediments

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