The eight greatest new museums

Biomuseo, Panama City Frank Gehry's latest project opened in Panama this month. Sitting at the entrance of the Panama Canal, the Biomuseo is the American architect's first work in Latin America. Famed for his Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, Gehry has again created an "eye-catcher on a bravura scale"; the 4000-square-metre building has eight galleries and is meant to represent the Panamanian landmass rising out of the ocean to bring together the continents of north and South America (Victoria Murillo/LatinContent/Getty Images), BBC News reports. Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing Steven Holl follows up his Nelson-Atkins extension in Kansas City with a project aiming to recreate the "parallel perspectives" characteristic of Chinese paintings. The Sifang Art Museum in Nanjing was inspired by artists who rejected the single-point perspective of Western painters, creating "a sense of mystery about the space", according to Holl. Opening in November 2013, and co-designed by Chinese architect Li Hu, the museum winds up from a base covered in bamboo-formed concrete to an upper gallery that offers a view of Nanjing. (Steven Holl Architects) Danish National Maritime Museum, Helsingør Danish architects Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) broke the rules when bidding to design the new Maritime Museum in Helsingør: although the brief stated that the new building be sited above a dry dock, they decided to place it inside the dock instead. Their design has won a RIBA Award, and prevents the new museum from competing with the neighbouring World Heritage-listed Kronborg Castle. A series of bollards and benches mark out the museum's edge, spelling out its name in Morse code, and sleek glass contrasts with the weathered concrete of the old dock. (Luca Santiago Mora) Details also at