Rem Koolhaas’s Office for Municipal Architecture is to re-design the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg with the $155 million project to be partially funded by the World Bank, the Russian government, and the Hermitage-Guggenheim Foundation.

Koohaas’ approach is slated to be one of calibrated intrusion rather than a dramatic structural overhaul. A self-contained modern structure will be inserted inside the two internal courtyards while leaving the rest of the complex intact, thereby creating “a unique condition: enabling a confrontation with art more direct and more authentic than in more ‘modern’ museums.”