Architect selected for London’s new concert hall

Our daily round-up of news from the art world

Diller Scofidio + Renfro to design London concert hall | The City of London Corporation has selected US architecture partnership Diller, Scofidio + Renfro to design a major new concert hall on the current site of the Museum of London. The £250m Centre for Music will be a permanent home for the London Symphony Orchestra. FT architecture critic Edwin Heathcote has described the choice as ‘a good result’ from ‘a bad shortlist’.

Art world mourns Holly Block | Holly Block, director of New York’s Bronx Museum since 2006, has died. Under Block’s tenure, the Bronx Museum quadrupled its attendance figures and embarked on an ambitious project of expansion, the first phase of which is due for completion in 2020. Block lost her battle with cancer on Saturday, 7 October. ‘True to character, she fought valiantly to the end, continuing until the very last to engage with visitors, ask about their projects, and even to make executive decisions’, reads a statement released by her family. A memorial service is planned for 5 November.

UCCA sold to Chinese investors | Beijing’s Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art has been sold to a group of Chinese investors after more than a year on the market. The sale to the group, which was led by private equity firm Lunar Capital, concludes a period of uncertainty for the institution sparked by founder Guy Ullens’s decision to sell it in 2016. Director Philip Tinari will continue in his role, and the centre will be registered as a nonprofit foundation.

Münster locals begin fundraising to keep Nicole Eisenman sculpture | Nicole Eisenman’s sculpture Sketch for a Fountain may remain on public display in Münster, where it was exhibited as part of this year’s Skulptur Projekte. According to the Art Newspaper, locals are raising money to keep the sculpture in place. It is a particularly popular work, despite – or perhaps because of – it being subject to several attacks by vandals.

Shortlist announced for Griffin Prize | London’s Griffin Gallery has announced the shortlist for the 2017 edition of its annual prize for emerging artist. The prize, which grants £10,000 to the eventual winner, is now in its sixth year. The artists selected this year are Cristina Banban, Sooyoung Chung, Oli Epp, Jade Fadojutimi, Jonathan Kelly, Anna Liber Lewis, Jinyong Park, Noor Qayyum, Maia Regis and Rania Schoretsaniti. The winner will be announced on 1 November.