Cities Bet On Ultramodern Museums

"Across the country, more than 25 major art institutions?and many more smaller ones?are planning or already constructing new buildings. There have been museum-building booms before (as recently as the 1980s), but never on this scale. When most of the current projects are finished, more than $3 billion in capital funds will have been raised, mostly from private donors. Naturally, the boom economy of the past decade has propelled these projects, but even in the current shakier climate, most museums say their plans are going forward, and new ones keep being announced. "