Best Museum
Herta & Paul Amir Building, TelAviv Museum of ArtDesigned by Preston Scott Cohen
Wedged into a tight, triangular site within the city’s central cultural complex, this piece of architectural origami uses a soaring, twisting, 87-foot-tall atrium, called Lightfall, to link a series of refreshingly uncomplicated galleries. In contrast to many dramatically shaped new art museums, it succeeds in being at once breathtaking and deferential to the art on display.
From the Jury
“The Tel Aviv museum is quite a piece of sculpture, but it is a sculpture that accepts art.” —Billie Tsien, architectHonorable Mention: Clyfford Still Museum, Denver; designed by Allied Works Architecture; 1250 Bannock St.; 720/354-4880; clyffordstillmuseum.org.