Holon Design Museum to open in January 2010

The much-anticipated opening of the design museum based in central Israel has been announced for January 31.

Built by Ron Arad as the designer's first big architectural project, the newly completed building has already won its first award (the Condé Nast Traveller Innovation and Design Award for Culture), and those involved hope that it will become new design hub for the country.

"Holon is a city which is re-inventing itself culturally, with ambitious plans that are investing a lot into culture," said Arad. "The concept of this museum in the Middle Eastern sun is just one instance."

Hana Hertsman, managing director of the new museum, added: "[It] not only highlights the role of design and culture in Holon's day-to-day life, but also the city's influence globally; I believe it will be a beacon within Israel and far beyond."

The building, whose design of weathered steel bands has been compared to Richard Serra's sculptures and Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim museum in New York, will open six weeks prior to the first exhibition in order for visitors to experience the structure in its own right.

The State of Things: Design and the 21st Century, the new museum's opening display, will go on show on March 10.

Site: dmh.org.il