After years of optimistic press releases, revised timelines, and the architectural equivalent of “opening soon” signage, 2026 is shaping up to be a moment of follow-through. From long-delayed cultural flagships to transit infrastructure that promises effective circulation, a slate of high profile projects across the U.S. and abroad are finally expected to open their doors. Some arrive just in time for global spectacles, and others after decades of planning and controversy, but all are projects the architecture world has been waiting to see realized.
LAX People Mover
After decades of brake lights, shuttle purgatory, and the spiritual endurance test known as 1 World Way, Los Angeles International Airport is getting its very own people mover. Opening in January, the long-awaited, driverless train will glide travelers from the city to the terminals in minutes, bypassing traffic and restoring the radical idea that airports can connect to transit without a minivan intermediary.
Arena Milano
Just in time for the Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics in February, Arena Santa Giulia is stepping onto the world stage. Designed by David Chipperfield Architects with Arup, the 16,000-seat arena stacks three glowing metal rings on a monumental podium. After the medals are handed out, it’ll pivot seamlessly to concerts, festivals, and piazza loitering—proof that this Olympic venue is planning a long life after the flame goes out. Also expect a slew of other Olympic-built projects, including an Olympic Village from SOM.
The New Museum
After teasing a 2025 debut, the New Museum’s long-awaited expansion is now set to open in early 2026. It is late, maybe fashionably so. The 60,000-square-foot addition by OMA, led by Rem Koolhaas and Shohei Shigematsu in collaboration with Cooper Robertson, doubles the Bowery institution’s gallery space, gives art and technology incubator NEW INC a permanent home, and adds a public plaza, atrium stair, and restaurant.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi
After a nearly two-decade timeline and several confidently announced opening dates, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is now aiming for 2026. When it does open, the Frank-Gehry-designed outpost plans to hang canonical figures like Basquiat, Warhol, Pollock, and Rothko alongside under-recognized contemporary artists.
National Juneteenth Museum
Designed by BIG, the National Juneteenth Museum is set to open in 2026 as a sculptural, ridged building organized around a central public courtyard, with galleries, theaters, a food hall, and community spaces folded into a single civic hub. It’s meant to be a monument, working to translate history into a gathering space.
Obama Presidential Center
It didn’t take long after the Obama administration left office for it to decide on the location and design for its presidential library. The center, which is nearing completion, is located in Jackson Park on the South Side of Chicago. Sited on a 19-acre site, the primary building is a monument of stone designed by Tod Willians Billie Tsien, with the landscape design planned by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. Its construction has not been without controversy, early on local residents brought up concerns that it would gentrify the neighborhood and work stopped in 2022 when a noose was found on the job site. And this year, a minority-owned subcontractor sued Thornton Tomasetti, alleging the engineering firm blamed delays and cost overruns on minority contractors in what the lawsuit described as racial discriminatory conduct. At long last, it will open in June.
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library
In the spirit of presidential libraries, across the country, deep in the Badlands of North Dakota, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library plans to make its public debut in July. Snøhetta is behind the building, which appears to rise from the grassy, rugged terrain like a grassy mound. It will surely be befitting of a president whose adventurous spirit is synonymous with so many American landscapes.
Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Practice for Architecture & Urbanism (PAU) is expanding I. M. Pei’s original glass pyramid design at Cleveland’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. PAU’s addition will better integrate the museum complex with Cleveland’s urban lake front, activate the surrounding streets, and maintain the museum’s architectural identity. The expansion uses the cartesian geometries familiar to the site.
Flatiron Residential Conversion
New York City’s most iconic wedge is slated for move-in. Come 2026, the Flatiron Building is trading cubicles for roughly 60 residents who might discover that living in a landmark means living inside everyone else’s camera roll. They should expect daily bottlenecks of tourists in Madison Square Park photographing their windows, pausing only to sprint into Eataly or the LEGO Store.
Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
From afar, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art rises up like a spaceship, much like other buildings from MAD Architects’ (MAD) portfolio. The museum, topped with a sprawling green roof and lawns to boot, will open to the public on September 22. Designed by Ma Yansong, founder of MAD, and Mia Lehrer of Studio-MLA, the Lucas Museum is slated to redefine Exposition Park in Los Angeles.
LACMA David Geffen Galleries
Most construction on Peter Zumthor–designed David Geffen Galleries at LACMA wrapped up in 2024, when the museum started moving its key operations inside. This summer new photography of the much anticipated project was shared ahead of art installation and its official April 2026 opening. As with others on this list, the project’s expected completion date has been pushed back numerous times, in this case the building’s proximity to a local archaeological site, the pandemic, and ballooning costs all contributed to the delay in the opening of the building, which was first announced back in 2001.
V&A East
V&A East will open its doors in April. The museum is the latest outpost of the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A). Its location on the site of London’s 2012 Olympic Park, isn’t where one would expect to find art and historical objects, but since the games concluded the neighborhood has been subject to a wave of development. Irish architectural firm O’Donnell & Tuomey is behind the design, an amalgamation of precast concrete panels
Memphis Art Museum
As of late, when it comes to museum and art institution commissions, Herzog & de Meuron is on a roll. The practice awaits the public opening of the Memphis Art Museum, a low-lying structure abutting the Mississippi River in the Tennessee city. The project is start of a new chapter for the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. It presents an opportunity for more public space downtown and of course more room for art.
Art Omi Pavilions
A new visitor center and three architect-designed pavilions and mini pavilions will open in late 2026 on the 190-acre pastoral property Art Omi operates in Chatham, New York. The phased project broke ground in May 2024 and will ultimately deliver 18 carbon-neutral pavilions collaboratively designed with artists and collectors. This year the BKSK Architects–designed visitor center and Holt Family Museum will welcome guests, as will a pavilion from Alice Aycock and Jahn/, another from SO – IL, and third from Tadaaki Kuwayama and Rakuko Naito designed alongside architects unit a, freie architekten bda.
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