Set to open later this year, the Nanjing Sifang Art Museum forms part of the Chinese International Practical Exhibition of Architecture (CIPEA) programme that will see buildings by both Chinese and foreign architects populate a site within the Laoshan National Forest Park. As well as the museum by Steven Holl, the park will feature a conference centre by Arata Isozaki, a hotel by Liu Jiakun, a leisure centre by the late Ettore Sottsass and a total of 20 houses.

The museum sits at the entrance to the park. Formed of two halves, the building has a two-storey black concrete base that is partially submerged into the site and a translucent glass upper level that is suspended above on a set of chunky columns.

Galleries will occupy all three floors of the building, providing a new home for the Nanjing 4Cube Museum of Contemporary Art. Exhibitions on the lower levels will be accommodated in a series of separate rooms, while on the top floor artworks can be displayed in a continuous sequence that finishes with a view towards Nanjing's city skyline.

Holl was interested in the difference in the use of perspective between Western and Chinese painting when designing the jolting snake-like form of the building. "The museum is formed by a 'field' of parallel perspective spaces and garden walls [...] over which a light 'figure' hovers," says the studio.

A monochrome colour palette was used throughout. The black tones of the concrete are stains left by its bamboo formwork, which has also left a ridged texture.

A courtyard is contained at the centre of the plan and features paving stones recycled from old hutong neighbourhoods in Nanjing.

The CIPEA project was first conceived back in 2003 as a showcase of modern architecture. Many of the buildings are set to open later this year and even the houses will be used as galleries, meant to be visited but not inhabited. See pictures of Blockhouse by Zhang Lei of AZL Architects in our earlier story.

Other recent projects in China by Steven Holl include the Sliced Porosity Block mixed-use complex in Chengdu and proposals for a pair of museums in Tianjin, with one the inverse of the other. See more architecture by Steven Holl on Dezeen.

Photography is by Xia Zhi, apart from where otherwise indicated.

Here are more details from Steven Holl Architects:

Nanjing Sifang Art Museum, Nanjing, China
2003 - 2013

Perspective is the fundamental historic difference between Western and Chinese painting. After the 13th Century, Western painting developed vanishing points in fixed perspective. Chinese painters, although aware of perspective, rejected the single-vanishing point method, instead producing landscapes with "parallel perspectives" in which the viewer travels within the painting.

The new museum is sited at the gateway to the Contemporary International Practical Exhibition of Architecture in the lush green landscape of the Pearl Spring near Nanjing, China. The museum explores the shifting viewpoints, layers of space, and expanses of mist and water, which characterize the deep alternating spatial mysteries of early Chinese painting. The museum is formed by a "field" of parallel perspective spaces and garden walls in black bamboo-formed concrete over which a light "figure" hovers. The straight passages on the ground level gradually turn into the winding passage of the figure above. The upper gallery, suspended high in the air, unwraps in a clockwise turning sequence and culminates at "in-position" viewing of the city of Nanjing in the distance. The meaning of this rural site becomes urban through this visual axis to the great Ming Dynasty capital city, Nanjing.

The courtyard is paved in recycled Old Hutong bricks from the destroyed courtyards in the center of Nanjing. Limiting the colors of the museum to black and white connects it to the ancient paintings, but also gives a background to feature the colors and textures of the artwork and architecture to be exhibited within. Bamboo, previously growing on the site, has been used in bamboo-formed concrete, with a black penetrating stain. The museum has geothermal cooling and heating, and recycled storm water.

Client: Nanjing Foshou Lake Architecture and Art Developments Ltd
Architect: Steven Holl Architects
Associate architects: Architectural Design Institute, Nanjing University
Structural consultant: Guy Nordenson and Associates
Lighting design: L'Observatoire International

Construction period: February 2005 -
Program: museum complex with galleries, tea room, bookstore and a curator's residence
Building area: 2787 sqm (30,000 sqf)

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The three-storey extension branches out from the southern facade of the 120-year-old Lenbachhaus, which was first constructed as the home and studio of nineteenth-century painter Franz von Lenbach. It was converted into a museum in the 1920s and had been incrementally extended over the years, so architecture firm Foster + Partners was brought in to rationalise the layout, as well as to add the new gallery wing.

"Our main challenge has been to maintain the same amount of exhibition area within the museum's footprint, while creating new circulation and visitor spaces," said architect and studio founder Norman Foster. "Given the way that the different parts of the museum had evolved, there was no such thing as a typical space – every corner is unique and required individual attention and different design decisions."

Rows of metal pipes made from a copper-aluminium alloy clad each elevation of the extension, designed to complement the restored yellow-ochre render on the walls of the original building. Together, the new and old structures frame the outline of a new courtyard with an entrance at the point where they cross.

Beyond the entrance, visitors are greeted with a triple-height atrium that wraps around the corner of the old exterior walls. A long narrow skylight runs along the edge of the roof and is screened by louvres that cast stripy shadows across the walls, while an installation by Olafur Eliasson is suspended from the centre of the ceiling.

"[An] important aspect of our design has been creating new opportunities for works of art to be exhibited outside the traditional confines of the gallery, such as in the atrium," added Foster. "This space develops the idea of the 'urban room'. It is the museum's public and social heart, and point of connection with the wider city."

Galleries occupy the two upper floors of the new wing and are dedicated to the display of the Blue Rider collection of expressionist paintings by artists including Wassily Kandinsky and Franz Marc.

The ground floor contains a temporary exhibition space and an education room, plus a glazed restaurant that opens out to a terrace around the edge of the building.

As part of the renovation, the architects also addressed the energy efficiency of the existing building. They added new heating and cooling systems in the floors, replaced lighting fixtures and introduced a rainwater harvesting system.

Past museum and gallery projects by London firm Foster + Partners include the Sperone Westwater gallery in New York and the Great Court at the British Museum. The team is also currently developing an art museum with four overlapping peaks for Datong, China. See more design by Foster + Partners.

Other museum and gallery buildings we've featured with golden cladding include a brass arts centre in Portugal and the Islamic art galleries at the Musée du Louvre in Paris. See more golden buildings on Dezeen.

Photography is by Nigel Young.

Here's a statement from Foster + Partners:

Lenbachhaus Museum reopens

The Museum's historic buildings have been carefully restored and the exhibition spaces augmented by a spectacular new wing, which provides an ideal environment for viewing the magnificent 'Blue Rider' collection. As well as radically improving the buildings' environmental performance, the remodelling has created a new entrance and social spaces, including a restaurant, terrace, education facilities and a dramatic full-height atrium, where the old is articulated within the new.

Built in 1891 as a studio and villa for the artist Franz von Lenbach, the Lenbachhaus Museum has been gradually extended over the last century. However, its buildings were in need of renewal and the museum lacked the facilities to cater to a growing audience of 280,000 people a year. Redefining circulation throughout the site, the project has transformed a complex sequence of spaces of different periods into a unified, legible museum that is accessible and open to all.

Peeling away the unnecessary historical accretions, a 1972 extension has been removed to reveal the wall of the original villa, which has been sympathetically restored in ochre render. The different historical elements are then unified along Richard-Wagner Street by a new gallery pavilion, containing two levels of exhibition space. The new building is intended as a 'jewel box' for the treasures of the gallery – it is clad in metal tubes of an alloy of copper and aluminium, their colour and form designed to complement the villa's rich ochre hue and textured facades.

Inside the new building, a sequence of intimate galleries display the Museum's internationally-renowned 'Blue Rider' collection of early twentieth-century Expressionist paintings, echoing the domestic scale of their original setting in the villa Lenbach. As many of the works of art were painted in 'plein-air', indirect natural light has been deliberately drawn into the upper level galleries to create the optimum environment for their display.

A new entrance has been created adjacent to the restaurant, accessed via a new landscaped piazza to the east of the museum – this move reclaims the courtyard garden, turning it from a pedestrian thoroughfare into a tranquil space for visitors. The restaurant is open outside of the Museum's opening hours and its seating continues outside, helping to enliven the surrounding streets and attracting new visitors into the galleries.

The new social heart of the building is a dramatic top-lit atrium, with ticket and information desks, access to a new temporary exhibition space on the ground floor and a grand, cantilevered stair to the upper level galleries. Clearly articulating the old within the new, its impressive volume incorporates the ochre exterior wall of the original villa and is scaled to accommodate large-scale works of art. The Museum commissioned the artist Olafur Eliasson for a site specific work titled Wirbelwerk. During the day sunlight washes the white walls via a long, slender opening at roof level and horizontal louvres cast changing patterns of light and shade within the space.

As well as repairing the fabric of the existing buildings, one of the main aims of the project has been to radically improve the museum's environmental performance. A water-based heating and cooling system within the floors has been implemented – using significantly less energy than an air based heating, this represents an innovative step in a gallery context. Rainwater is also collected and recycled and lighting has been replaced and upgraded with low-energy systems.

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The Museu de Arte do Rio, which opened last month, occupies the renovated interiors of the Palacete Dom João, an early-twentieth-century palace beside Mauá Square in Rio's port. Meanwhile, the Escola do Olhar school is inserted within a former police building and bus station next door.

Inspired by the shape of waves, Bernardes + Jacobsen Arquitetura added an undulating concrete canopy over both of the buildings, sheltering a new outdoor bar and events space on the rooftops.

"We had the challenge of proposing an icon," architect Bernardo Jacobsen told the Rio Times. "The more modern building had two extra floors so we eliminated these to balance the set. Then we built a wave over the two, almost like a flying object."

The museum of art comprises eight double-height galleries, accommodated across four near-identical floors. A ground floor entrance leads in through the centre of the facade, where visitors can either head straight towards the exhibitions or take a lift up to the roof.

The neighbouring school is an elevated structure supported by pilotis. The architects have cleaned up the ground floor area to create a public square, while a small sculpture area is positioned alongside.

Three levels of classrooms, workshops and exhibition rooms begin on the first floor, plus a library and auditorium are located on the fourth floor and a bridge links the two buildings on the next level up.

The Museu de Arte do Rio opened to the public with four eclectic exhibitions of Brazilian and international art.

Above: site plan - click for larger image

The renovated palace won't be the only museum completed ahead of the 2016 Olympic games. The Museum of Image and Sound Rio by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Casa Daros, a museum of Latin American art, by Paulo Mendes da Rocha are also set to open in the next three years. See more architecture in Brazil on Dezeen.

Above: ground floor plan - click for larger image

See more photography by Leonardo Finotti on Dezeen or on the photographer's website.

Above: mezzanine level - click for larger image

Read on for more project details from Jacobsen Arquitetura:

MAR - Art Museum of Rio

Our challenge was to unite three existing buildings with different architectural characteristics to house the Museu de Arte do Rio, the school "A Escola do Olhar" as well as cultural and leisure spaces. The existing buildings, the palace "Palacete Dom João", the police building and the old central bus station of Rio, connected shall be part of the major urban redevelopment in the historic downtown of Rio de Janeiro. For each construction we analysed different levels of preservation.

Above: first floor plan - click for larger image

The first step was to establish a flow system allowing the Museum and school to work in an integrated and efficient manner. Therefore we proposed the creation of a suspended square on the police building rooftop, which will unite all accesses and host a bar and an area for cultural events and leisure. Consequently, the visitation will be from top to bottom.

Above: second floor plan - click for larger image

It was established that the palace, due to its large ceiling height and structure free plan should hold the exhibition areas of the museum. The police building shall be used for the school, auditoriums, multimedia exhibition areas, administration areas and employee areas of the complex.

Above: third floor plan - click for larger image

The stilts, currently used as an access to the road, will turn into a large foyer for entire complex, and will hold the sculpture exhibition areas. Access will be controlled between the two buildings, characterizing this empty space as internal, open and covered. The marquee of the Road, heritage element listed by the City, will be used for lavatories, store and region of loading, unloading and deposits.

Above: fourth floor plan - click for larger image

The connection and circulation of visitors between the two buildings, in the form of a suspended catwalk will belong to this new building, featuring the most unusual state possible.

Above: fifth floor plan - click for larger image

For the police building, we propose the suspension of the last floor to balance the height of the two buildings as well as the replacement of the masonry closing façade profiles using translucent glass, making the structural system of indented columns visible and revealing the stilts.

Above: sixth floor plan - click for larger image

Finally as the main mark of the project, we suggested that the suspended square have an abstract and aerial form. A fluid and extremely light structure, simulating water surface waves. A poetic architectural character full of meaning, simple and at the same time modern in regards to the structural calculation. This element shall be seen near and by far, and from below to who is arriving at the Praça Mauá, from above by those who are at the Morro da Conceição.

Above: cross-section - click for larger image

Above: elevation - click for larger image

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Tree Art Museum is located beside a main road in the Songzhuang arts district, so the architect wanted to create secluded spaces outside the gallery where artists and visitors can socialise. One large courtyard is inserted in front of the building, while a second is positioned at the back and a terrace ramps up over the roof.

Architect Dai Pu explains: "This project hopes to create a place where local people and visitors would communicate with nature, light, trees, water and contemporary art."

A chunky concrete wall separates the entrance courtyard from the road. A sliced opening reveals it to be a corridor, offering an informal exhibition space on the way into the galleries.

Glazed curtain walls surround the courtyard facades of the building, bringing natural light into the two gallery floors and revealing the sloping floors.

"I hope people might be attracted into the museum by the view at the entrance," said Dai Pu. "Their eyes would follow the curvy floorslab coming from the ground all the way up to the roof."

Zigzagging ramps at one end of the building lead up from the ground to the rooftop terrace, which also accommodates four smaller patios.

Meeting rooms and offices are lined up along the rear of the building and face down onto the secondary courtyard.

Dai Pu previously worked for Beijing studio MAD, where he was project architect for Hutong Bubble 32, a bubble-shaped extension to a traditional Chinese courtyard house. Tree Art Museum is his first project since launching Daipu Architects.

Other new galleries in China include Jade Museum, located in a converted office block in Shanghai, and The Design Republic Commune, a design gallery, shop and event space in the same city. See more architecture in China.

Photography is by Shu He.

Here's some more information from Daipu Architects:

Located in Songzhuang, Beijing, China, Tree art museum lies beside the main road of the area. Original village has vanished, replaced by big scale blocks which better fit for cars. Even if renowned as artist village, it's difficult to stay or enjoy art exploration without local artist friend's introducing. So, the first idea was to create an ambient, a public space where people would like to stay, date and communicate.

I hope people might be attracted into the museum by the view at the entrance. Their eyes would follow the curvy floorslab coming from the ground all the way up to the roof. People could choose getting into the space either through the ramp or the courtyard with a pool and tree on the first floor. Sky is reflected onto the ground, with reflecting pool together, helping people to filter their mind and forget the environment out there.

The first courtyard was separated with the main road and dust outside by a bare-concrete wall. People would stay and chat under the tree in the courtyard, or, just feed fishes by the reflecting pool. Meanwhile, they could enjoy artworks and watch other people lingering inside the building through curtain wall. In the bare-concrete wall, there is a corridor which could be utilized to exhibit books and small sculptures. The curvature varies slightly along the path.

The second courtyard introduces nature light to the back exhibition hall and meeting room on 2nd floor, while separating the public and privacy needed. The curvy wall implies people to the other side of the building, and introduces them to come to the public stairs-plaza on the roof, where people could sit and enjoy sunshine, or look down to the pool or even chat with people down in the courtyard.

There are six and half courtyards on 2,695 square meters site. Besides the two bigger ones for exhibition, there are four more courtyards lying on the upper part. Two yards apply sunlight to the back space and introduce skylight to the exhibition hall below. The other two yards are on the top of the floor, which also open to sky.

Above: axonometric diagram - click for larger image

By taking real and pure expression, this project hopes to create a place where local people and visitors would communicate with nature, light, trees, water and contemporary art. This simple and plain idea will spread out through their experience.

Above: ground floor plan - click for larger image

Project title: Tree Art Museum
Location: Song zhuang, Beijing, China
Height: 18.78 meter
No. of floors: Exhibition part: 2 stories, Function part: 5 stories
Building Area: 3,200 square meters
Site area: 2,695 square meters

Above: first and second floor plans - click for larger image

Client: Chinese Contemporary Art Development Foundation
Design Architect: Daipu Architects
Director: Dai Pu
Design Team: Dai Pu, Feng Jing, Liu Yi

Above: third and fourth floor plans - click for larger image

Structural Engineer: Huang Shuangxi
Water Engineer: Lei Ming
Mechanical Engineer: Wang Gepeng
Electrical Engineer: Wang Xiang
Curtain Consultant: Beijing Doorwin Decoration Co, Ltd
Design: 2009.11
Construction: 2010.11 - 2012.09

Above: cross section one - click for larger image

Above: cross section two - click for larger image

Above: street elevation - click for larger image

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Above: the Atrium, photographed by Pedro Pegenaute

Working alongside French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and restoration architect Van Hoogevest, Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos has overhauled the interior of the historic arts and crafts museum, which was designed by architect Pierre Cuypers in the late nineteenth century. As well as restoring galleries to their original configuration, the architects have created a new entrance hall and added a pavilion to showcase Asian artworks.

Above: the Atrium, photographed by Pedro Pegenaute

The entrance hall, named the Atrium, replaces a series of gallery extensions in the museum's two inner courtyards.

Above: the Atrium, photographed by Pedro Pegenaute

A rib-vaulted passageway divided the space in two, so the architects have lowered the floor to create an underground zone linking the two sides from underneath. As the main route through the building, this passageway was then reconnected to the hall with a set of new staircases.

Above: the passageway, photographed by Pedro Pegenaute

The architects have installed a new glass roof to enclose the grand triple-height court, filled with natural light. Polished Portuguese stone covers the floor, while two rectangular chandelier-like structures are suspended overhead on each side.

Above: Gallery of Honour, photographed by Iwan Baan

Elsewhere in the museum, lowered ceilings and half-storeys have been removed to rationalise the layout of the Rijksmuseum's 80 galleries, which have been completely reorganised. Only Rembrandt's seventeenth-century painting The Night Watch remains in its original position, in the dedicated Night Watch Gallery.

Above: Rijksmuseum, photographed by Iwan Baan

New display areas are designed by Jean-Michel Wilmotte to look invisible where possible and include cases made from anti-reflective glass and simple rectangular plinths. Walls are finished in five different shades of grey, in line with Cuypers' original palette.

Above: The Night Watch Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

Under the supervision of Van Hoogevest, the terrazzo floor has been restored in the Great Hall, while additional ornaments have been revitalised in the Gallery of Honour and within the stairwells.

Above: 17th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

The new Asian Pavilion is located to the south of the building and features walls of stone and glass. It is surrounded by water and sits within redesigned gardens by Dutch landscape architects Copijn Landschapsarchitecten.

Above: 17th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

A number of historic museums have been given a facelift in recent years. Also in Amsterdam, Benthem Crouwel Architects recently added a sink-like extension to the Stedelijk Museum, while David Chipperfield won the Mies van der Rohe Award for his 2009 renovation of the Neues Museum in Berlin. See more museums on Dezeen.

Above: 20th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

Here's some more information about the opening:

Rijksmuseum to open following ten-year transformation

The Rijksmuseum will open on 13 April 2013, following a ten-year transformation. Never before has a national museum undergone such a complete transformation of both its building and the presentation of its collection.

Spanish architecture firm Cruz y Ortiz Arquitectos has spectacularly transformed the 19th-century building into a museum for the 21st century, with a bright and spacious entrance, a new Asian Pavilion and beautifully restored galleries. Under the guidance of restoration architect Van Hoogevest, the lavish decoration scheme of Pierre Cuypers, the original architect of the museum, has been fully reconstructed in a number of the museum's key spaces. Parisian architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte designed the new interior of the galleries, fusing 19th-century grandeur with modern design.

The presentation of the Rijksmuseum's world-famous collection is also new. For the very first time, visitors can follow a chronological journey through the collection, and experience the sense of beauty and time this offers. In a sequence of 80 galleries, 8,000 objects tell the story of 800 years of Dutch art and history. Only Rembrandt's masterpiece The Night Watch will be returning to its original position.

The renovation and opening of the Rijksmuseum is made possible by founder Philips and main sponsors BankGiro Lottery, ING and KPN. The restoration of the Cuypers colours is made possible by AKZONobel/Sikkens.

Above: 18th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

Journey through time, from the Middle Ages to Mondrian

The new presentation of the Rijksmuseum collection is a journey through Dutch art and history from the Middle Ages and Renaissance until the 20th century. The story of the Netherlands has been set in an international context and is told chronologically across four separate floors. Paintings, prints, drawings, photographs, silver, porcelain, delftware, furniture, jewellery, arms, fashion and objects from Dutch history will be presented together for the very first time.

More than 30 galleries are dedicated to the glory of the Golden Age, when the young mercantile republic led the world in trade, science, military exploits and the arts. At the heart of the museum will be the magnificently restored Gallery of Honour, presenting world-famous masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Frans Hals and Jan Steen. The Gallery of Honour leads visitors to the dedicated space that architect Cuypers created for Rembrandt’s The Night Watch in the late 19th century, and where this huge masterpiece can once again be admired.

New to the presentation are the 20th century galleries. Paintings, furniture, photography, film and an aeroplane paint a picture of Dutch culture from the last century.

Above: 18th Century Gallery, photographed by Iwan Baan

Special Collections

The Special Collections are also displayed separately for the first time. Here, visitors will be able to discover famous and unexpected objects from the applied arts, science and national history, such as ship and navy models, musical instruments, and an armoury.

Above: Cuypers Library, photographed by Iwan Baan

New acquisitions and restorations

With the support of businesses, funds and private donors, hundreds of new objects and works of art have been acquired over the last ten years, of which more than 100 will be showcased in the museum when it reopens. The Rijksmuseum was also able to carefully study and restore almost the entire collection of works featured in the new presentation. Highlights among the new acquisitions include:

The 'Golden Bend' in the Herengracht (1671-72) by Gerrit Berckheyde, one of the highlights of the Dutch landscape genre from the Golden Age. Acquired with the support of Royal Dutch Shell, the National Art Collections Fund foundation and the BankGiro Lottery.

The Burgomaster of Delft and his Daughter (1655) by Jan Steen, one of the masterpieces of the 17th century collection. Acquired with the support of the BankGiro Lottery, The Mondrian Fund, VSB, Vereniging Rembrandt and National Art Collections Fund foundation.

A rare white armchair (1923) by Dutch designer and architect Gerrit Rietveld. With the support of the BankGiro Lottery Fund.

Two-metre high wooden sculptures of celestial warriors from Japan, temple guardians from the 14th century. With the support of the BankGiro Lottery Fund, the M.J. Drabbe Fund, The Mondrian Foundation and Vereniging Rembrandt.

Above: Great Hall, photographed by Jannes Linders

Cuypers for the 21st century

The main building of the Rijksmuseum has undergone a spectacular transformation. The lead architect for the renovation was Seville-based architecture firm Cruz y Ortiz. They based their ideas on the original design by Pierre Cuypers, the 19th-century architect of the museum. Under the motto Cuypers for the 21st century, and in close collaboration with Dutch restoration architect Van Hoogevest, the architects have turned the 19th-century national monument into a modern museum for the 21st century, restoring and introducing light and space. Cruz y Ortiz have opened up the previously converted inner courtyards into an impressive glass-covered new entrance hall, known as the Atrium. The original, richly decorated walls and ceilings have been revealed again in a number of places under the guidance of architect Van Hoogevest. The French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, known for his work in the Louvre, is responsible for the design of the Rijksmuseum galleries. He has designed elegant display cases, plinths, lighting and furniture, and has selected an interior colour scheme inspired by Pierre Cuypers' palette for the building.

Above: Gallery of Honour, photographed by Iwan Baan

The new Asian Pavilion

Surrounded by water, the new Asian Pavilion is made from Portuguese stone and glass, and is characterised by many oblique surfaces and unusual sightlines. It houses the museum's rich collection of Asian art from China, Japan, Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Thailand, dating from 2000 B.C. to 2000 A.D. A total of approximately 350 objects will be on display.

New "outdoor museum"

Based on Cuypers' 1901 design, the Rijksmuseum gardens' new layout was created by Dutch garden and landscape architecture firm Copijn. The gardens feature several of the original formal garden styles, as well as classical statues, and fragments and ornaments of historic buildings. A fountain, a water artwork designed by Jeppe Hein, a 19th-century greenhouse with 'forgotten' vegetables, and a children's garden with playground equipment by Dutch designer Aldo van Eyck will soon be added to this "outdoor museum". A Henry Moore exhibition will open in the new gardens on 21 June 2013, the first in a series of international sculpture exhibitions to be held each year.

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