New holland island will get a new museum.
Thanks to millionaire businessman Roman Abramovich and his art-loving girlfriend, Dasha Zhukova, the long defunct New Holland Island in St. Petersburg, Russia, is being transformed into a “mini-art metropolis.” The first step in renovating the former storage facility and military prison built by Peter the Great in the early 1700s was finding an architect. Norman Foster’s proposal was apparently turned down for being too modern, but it was just announced that the progressive NY firm WORK AC got the job. Their proposed “city within a city” will mostly subtract from the existing structures, incorporating as much open, public space as possible, even including a hot tub – now that’s gotta be a first for a museum.
