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A subterranean gallery carved into a sand dune and a treehouse-style art museum feature in our latest lookbook, which collects striking gallery interiors from around the world.

Art galleries are specifically designed as spaces for showcasing artworks such as sculptures and paintings. As a result, they are often characterised by neutral and minimalist interiors so as not to divert attention from the objects on display.

However, some galleries are defined by statement designs that not only complement the artworks they house, but transform their interiors into masterpieces themselves.

From a converted Iranian brewery to a Milanese basement, read on for 10 galleries with memorable interior designs.

This is the latest in our lookbooks series, which provides visual inspiration from Dezeen’s archive. For more inspiration see previous lookbooks featuring inviting entrance halls, terracotta kitchens and Crittal-style windows.

IK Lab at Azulik — Top: Helsinki’s Amox Rex museum. Above: image is courtesy of IK Lab

IK Lab, Mexico, by Jorge Eduardo Neira Sterkel

Curving cement walls and undulating vine floors provide an alternative backdrop for artwork within the gallery at the Azulik resort in Tulum.

The gallery, which visitors must enter without shoes via a winding walkway, is elevated above the ground and reaches the height of the surrounding tree canopy. Circular windows of various sizes flood the space with natural light.

The gallery was opened by the resort’s founder and designer, Jorge Eduardo Neira Sterkel, after the great-grandson of the famed American art collector Peggy Guggenheim and a Tulum local suggested the idea.

Find out more about IK Lab ›

Interior of TaoCang Art Center by Roarc Renew in Jiaxing, China — Photo is by Wen Studio

TaoCang Art Center, China, by Roarc Renew

TaoCang Art Center is comprised of two disused granaries located in the village of Wangjiangjing in China’s Zhejiang province. Shanghai studio Roarc Renew connected the volumes with a pair of sweeping brick corridors that are lined with arches.

Functioning as distinct gallery spaces, the granaries are characterised by striking arrangements of lotus flowers on their floors – an ode to the village’s lotus-flower industry and a pond adjacent to the site.

Find out more about TaoCang Art Centre ›

Bedroom at art gallery — Photo is by Ye Rin Mok

Maison Lune, USA, by Sandrine Abessera, Lubov Azria and Gabriella Kuti

Designers Sandrine Abessera and Lubov Azria, founders of the contemporary art gallery Maison Lune, worked with interior designer Gabriella Kuti to set it within a former private house in California.

Spread across rooms in neutral hues, the gallery is laid out like a collector’s home featuring a varied cluster of artworks and design pieces. Multiple terraces and internal stepped areas provide plinth-like display units for the objects throughout the property.

“We want to build an alternative to traditional galleries, which are often perceived as too elitist and intimidating,” explained Abessera and Azria.

Find out more about Maison Lune ›

Amos Rex by JKMM Architects — Photo is by Tuomas Uusheimo

Amos Rex, Finland, by JKMM Architects

Finnish studio JKMM Architects designed the Amos Rex art museum in Helsinki with a series of domed subterranean galleries, which bubble up through the ground to create a sloping outdoor playground.

While a portion of the museum is housed in the renovated Lasipalatsi, a functionalist 1930s building at street level, Amos Rex was also extended underground to include the domed galleries. These subterranean spaces feature minimalist monochrome interiors illuminated by large round skylights.

Find out more about Amos Rex ›

Studio and gallery for Bosco Sodi — Photo is by Sergio Lopez

Studio CDMX, Mexico, by Alberto Kalach

A multi-purpose artist residency and gallery come together at Studio CDMX, a space in Mexico City designed for Casa Wabi founder Bosco Sodi in which to work and exhibit his pieces.

Constructed on the site of a former warehouse, the building reflects its location’s industrial roots with concrete, metal and brick elements arranged in chunky formations. Sodi’s sculptural works, finished in materials including stone and ceramic, also influenced the interiors.

Find out more about Studio CDMX ›

Meandering rattan structure in a dining room by Enter Projects Asia — Photo is by William Barrington-Binns

Private gallery, Thailand, by Enter Projects Asia

A winding rattan installation traces an overhead route through this private gallery in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Architecture studio Enter Projects Asia used an algorithm to design the structure, which snakes in and out of the gallery’s various indoor and outdoor spaces.

“We sought to create an immersive experience, giving the space a warmth and depth uncharacteristic of conventional art galleries,” said studio director Patrick Keane.

Find out more about this private gallery ›

Fondazione Luigi Rovati Museum in Milan — Photo is by Duccio Malagamba

Fondazione Luigi Rovati Museum, Italy, by Mario Cucinella Architects

Layered stone walls line the new basement of the Fondazione Luigi Rovati Museum, an art gallery housed within a 19th-century palazzo in Milan that was both preserved and expanded by Italian studio Mario Cucinella Architects.

The basement walls were created from overlapping layers of limestone ashlar, which curve upwards to form domed ceilings. Free-standing and wall-mounted cases designed by the architecture studio display two hundred Etruscan artifacts, including ancient jewellery and cinerary urns.

Find out more about Fondazione Luigi Rovati Museum ›

Argo Factory Contemporary Art Museum & Cultural Centre, Iran, by Ahmadreza Schricker Architecture North

US studio Ahmadreza Schricker Architecture North renovated a 1920s brewery in central Tehran to create the Argo Factory Contemporary Art Museum & Cultural Centre, preserving many of the factory’s original industrial features.

Designed without middle supports, a curvilinear concrete staircase was inserted into the building to connect the museum’s lobby and its six galleries above. The staircase is one of a number of new elements with a rounded shape, created to contrast the uniform brick architecture.

Find out more about Argo Factory Contemporary Art Museum & Cultural Centre ›

UCCA Dune Art Museum, China, by Open Architecture

Carved into a dune on a beach in Qinhuangdao, this coastal art museum is comprised of a network of subterranean concrete galleries.

Beijing-based firm Open Architecture took cues from caves for the interlinked spaces, which are illuminated by organically shaped openings and feature an irregular texture.

“The walls of ancient caves were where art was first practiced,” Open Architecture co-founder Li Hu told Dezeen.

Find out more about UCCA Dune Art Museum ›

GO'C Mini Mart City Park — Photo is by Kevin Scott

Mini Mart City Park, USA, by GO’C

Mini Mart City Park is a community arts centre with a gallery built on the site of a former 1930s petrol station in Seattle.

Local studio GO’C referenced the location’s history when creating the design for the centre, opting for classic signage, an overhanging roof and divided metal windows.

Inside, the gallery space is characterised by exposed wooden rafters and smooth grey-hued floors, providing a neutral backdrop for the exhibition of artwork.

Find out more about Mini Mart City Park ›

Reference

Designer Keiji Ashizawa used muted tones to make the most of the sunlight in this apartment in central Tokyo, which features wooden art pieces and furniture that was specially designed for the space.

For the Hiroo Residence, named after its location in the city’s Hiroo neighbourhood, Ashizawa wanted to underline the quality of the light in the flat.

Hallway of Hiroo Residence — A cut-out wall lets light into the hallway, which has an artwork by Sara Martinsen

In the open-plan kitchen and living room, light streams in from a balcony, and the designer took advantage of this light source by creating a cut-out wall so that the light carries through to the hallway next to it.

“I think you can see we have a very nice sunlight here,” he told Dezeen during a walkthrough of the apartment. “So I didn’t want to use white, as it would be too bright – instead I used muted, subtle tones.”

Living room corner in Hiroo Residence — A wooden artwork by Atelier Plateau and a slatted sideboard decorate the living room

He also wanted Hiroo Residence to feel like a peaceful place to come home to in a busy city, using natural materials to create a calm ambience.

“Outside it’s super noisy but inside it’s very quiet, so I chose muted tones that also fuse with the materials; the wood and the stone,” Ashizawa said.

The tranquil 200-square-metre apartment, which overlooks the Arisugawanomiya Memorial Park, has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a kitchen and dining area, a small workspace and plenty of storage spaces.

Wooden furniture in Tokyo apartment by Keiji Ashizawa — Shaker-informed chairs and a wooden light were used for the kitchen

Before designing the interior, Ashizawa changed the layout of the flat to make it more open, taking out an existing hallway to create a bigger dining space.

“Our goal was to design a space that can only be created by meticulously crafting from the smallest detail to the furniture, resulting in a quiet, comforting, and inspiring atmosphere with little noise, surrounded by natural materials crafted with tactility,” Ashizawa said of the design.

Sofa and coffee table in Hiroo Residence — Keiji Ashizawa used a neutral colour palette for the home

He worked with the Japanese wooden furniture company Karimoku on the project, which is the eighth in its Karimoku Case Study series that sees it collaborate with architects on bespoke furniture and interior projects.

As a result, wood was used throughout Hiroo Residence, with white-stained oak covering many of the floors.

Ashizawa also worked with Karimoku to create wooden window frames and sliding doors, which were placed throughout the flat to add privacy without taking up too much space.

The furniture matches the wooden interior details and includes two pieces created especially for the project – a sideboard with decorative wooden slats and a dining chair with a woven seat that was inspired by both Shaker designs and classic Scandinavian chairs.

Bedroom of Tokyo apartment by Keiji Ashizawa — Wooden panels cover the bedroom walls

In the bedroom of Hiroo Residence, wooden wall panels add a tactile and more natural feel, which is echoed in the built-in shelves and drawers in the en-suite walk-in closet.

Cabinets were also used to hide different functions in the kitchen, where a large wooden unit takes up an entire wall.

Kitchen by Karimoku for Tokyo flat — An entire wall is taken up by a wooden kitchen unit

Even smaller details in the flat, such as the long kitchen lamp, were made from the material.

Artworks in wood by Danish art studio Atelier Plateau and the artist Sara Martinsen, which were created especially for the space, decorate the walls.

Karimoku has worked with Ashizawa on a number of projects, including its second showroom which just opened in Kyoto, Japan, and the Azabu Residence Case Study, where the designer referenced mid-century American design.

The photography is by Tomooki Kengaku.

Reference

artworks

Ten gallery interiors that are artworks in their own right

Wooden furniture and artworks decorate Hiroo Residence in Tokyo

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