The recently inaugurated extension of the London’s Tate Modern, designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, adds to the existing entrances to the East and the North a new entrance to the South, creating a previously-missing link between the River Thames and the historic Southwark. The connection passes through the preexisting 6-storey Boiler House and the Turbine Hall, the old generating hall of the Bankside Power Station, turned into a 3,400 sqm open space for temporary exhibitions. The new building, known as the Switch House, strengthens the link between the museum and the city through this connection and also through the creation of a new city plaza to the South and a new public garden. The extension, which increases the display space by 60%, boasts four levels for new exhibition galleries, two levels for learning spaces and offices, plus a restaurant, a café, a retail area and a rooftop terrace at the tenth level with panoramic views over London. The London designer Jasper Morrison, who already designed the interiors of the museum in 2000, designed the interiors of the new extension. The vertical orientation of these spaces is clear in the same way that a horizontal orientation is evident in the first phase of the Tate Modern. The exhibition paths and the connecting lines condensed into a pyramidal form generated from the combined geometries of the site context and the existing building. This sculptural structure rises above the subterranean spaces of the Tanks: vast, industrial spaces, partially recovered in the first phase in 2000, dedicated to live art. As the designers tried to minimalize their interference with these spaces, the original patina with all its stains, marks and discoloration signs was preserved and the new concrete blends imperceptibly into this patchwork created by the passage of time.
Credits: Photographs: © Iwan Baan
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