Museums are sacred premises where art, science, and history come together. They are basically the best of civilization to be preserved for the next generations.

But some of them are masterpieces that provoke so much fascination on the inside, as they do on the outside due to their marvelous architecture. Following, we present 5 of the most impressive museums, not only due to the works they host, but also because they constitute architectural gems.

V&A Dundee, Scotland’s Design Museum

The first Design Museum in Dundee, Scotland that opened in 2018 is an amazing work that recreates the famous Scottish cliffs in the middle of the city. The work of Kengo Kuma is a branch of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London and houses the works of fashion, ceramics, engineering, and furniture of the most important artists of this country.

Among its most distinctive features, is the protruding over the Tei river, providing the real sensation of floating on water.

Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao

Few structures in the world are as beautiful as the Guggenheim Museum of Bilbao, dedicated to modern and contemporary art. The structure designed by the Canadian Frank Gehry, was unveiled in 1997 and is located on the banks of the Nervión river.

According to the 2010 World Architecture Survey, it was named the most important completed work from the year 1980 until the publication of the survey.

Oscar Niemeyer Museum, Curitiba, Brazil

Also known as the eye or El Nuovo Museu, is the architectural work of Oscar Niemeyer that opened in 2002, when the architect turned 95 years old.

Later in 2003, the museum was renovated with the opening of an annex designed by the same artist. A great structure that represents a human eye on a yellow pillar, focuses on visual arts, architecture, and design and is certainly considered one of the most important artistic institutions in America.

Royal Ontario Museum, Canada

The largest museum in Canada has more than 6,000 pieces that combine natural history, art, and culture. The original building has had several extensions and the latest reform has been quite controversial.

Said reform is the new entry designed by the studio of Daniel Libeskind, called Crystal by Michael Lee-Chin, which was inaugurated for the Royal Museum of Ontario in 2017 and has been criticized by many to the point of including it among the list of the top 10 ugliest buildings in Canada. It’s a complex structure of prismatic glass with metal that leaves no one unmoved, either by criticism or praise.

Museum of Islamic Art, Qatar

The city of Qatar is home to a striking structure that opened in 2008 under the signature of the Pritzker award-winning architect IM Oei. Located in Doha, Qatar’s capital, the museum is on an artificial island at one end of the Doha Bay surrounded by a curved boardwalk.

The striking geometric work that gives rise to the Museum of Islamic Art, is built in limestone and occupies five levels that host pieces of Islamic art that are over 1,400 years old. Artifacts or devices made of ceramics, metal and glass, manuscripts and textiles, of great beauty constitute the collection that are safely kept in this museum. Many of these pieces come from countries such as Spain, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, and even India.