What do we talk about when we talk about museums today? Is it art, architecture, ideologies, politics, money and personalities?
Lidia Manolova takes a look at three of the most ambitious museum projects of our century - the Pinault Museum at the historic Bourse de Commerce building in Paris (planswere announced in July 2017); the Louvre Abu Dhabi, long awaited and set to open for visitors on 11 November; and the three year old Fondation Louis Vuitton, proof that Paris, art, architecture and fashion can be forever reinterpreted. While they differ conceptually - and in terms of curation, operation and funding (Francois Pinault's future museum is a private investment; Bernard Arnault's Fondation Louis Vuitton is partially state funded, and the Louvre Abu Dhabi is a collaboration between the goverments of France and the United Arab Emirates) - all three museums have one thing in common: they are dreams come true. Created to be meeting points of past, future and present, plaves where history collides with the context of the now, where East meets West, and religions and ideologies coexist harmoniously. Their architectural silhouettes alone have set new worldwide cultural benchmarks. Even if only for - and for their legendary creators, Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando and Jean Nouvel - these new museums will always stay relevant.