From the Collection to the Contemporary

Designed by Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA together they arranged the buildings to create a sequence of intimate courtyards to bring in ample light and provide opportunities for patients to view the surrounding natural environment. There are many places for patients to sit and contemplate nature, creating a space that is both uplifting and calming. The craftmanship and use of local bricks and detailing is kept simple making it easy to maintain.

Their ambition was not only to create a site for learning, but to consider the structure of the education system as more informal, collaborative, and cross-disciplinary. An important element of this was to ensure the classrooms were not the only spaces for education. The plazas and corridors became as important, offering places for exchange and learning.

The large extractions are positioned to act as light wells and provide a natural cooling system to protect the interior from the Indian climate. The shapes are also aesthetic, based on abstracted patterns found within the Indian culture. This shows Kahn’s approach of blending traditional culture with modern architecture.  

The five buildings on this site were built between 1824 and 1930. The Altes Museum, located opposite the original place and next to the cathedral, was the first to be constructed, from 1823 to 1830 to designs by Karl Friedrich Schinkel. The monumental façade, with its arrangement of eighteen Ionic fluted columns, is typical of the Neoclassical  architecture of the time.

Other Neoclassical features include the expansive atrium and sweeping steps to the entrance and an elegant rotunda, modelled on the Pantheon in Rome. In 1828 Friedrich Wilhelm III dedicated this museum 'to the study of all antiquities and the free arts' so cultural artefacts from Europe and the wider Mediterranean region could be appreciated by all.

The second building of the Museumsinsel Berlin was designed by Friedrich August Stüler, a student of Schinkel, and built from 1843 to 1855. The building was severely damaged during the Second World War. It was left abandoned and structurally unstable, with entire sections missing, until in 1997 David Chipperfield Architects won the international competition for the rebuilding of the Neues Museum in collaboration with Julian Harrap.

This image was taken after the renovations were complete. Missing structural elements were reconstructed and any gaps were filled in without competing with the existing structure.  Formed from the same concrete elements, the new main staircase repeats the original without replicating it, its volume preserved, but without the original ornamentation.

Here is the same main staircase, taken in 1910.    The renovation work fully respected the historical structure and the original sequence of rooms was restored to create continuity with the existing framework. 

A city known for its canals and cycle paths, the waterways around Copenhagen allow a different perspective of the city, whilst the flat landscape allows an easy ride around the streets. Associated with being one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world, its cycle path is 256 miles in length. Over half of the residents of the city commute by bicycle.

A pier rather than a bridge, the Kalvebod Waves offers an extension to the waterfront in that part of the city. An area originally dedicated to industry and business it is now transformed to an accessible and public recreational space with a network of different  spaces for leisure and recreation. Its configuration allows users to fully benefit from the position of the sun and the different levels initiate different uses of the space in a way that is not prescribed.

The complex provides not only a new art centre, but a generous civic place for people to meet. The ground floor, which is accessible to the public, flows from the city street and directs visitors to the galleries and theatre via semi-outdoor stairs and hallways. Large windows look out onto the neighbourhood, providing a contrast to the openness of the gallery and the and the dense fabric of the historic streetscape.

Originally the brief was to demolish the industrial building and build a new gallery, however the architects, Atelier Deshaus turned environmental and budgetary constraints into design opportunities with real social value. The industrial ground floor lobby opens onto the river with a designated public dining hall hosting local film nights, concerts and fairs. The spaces outside provide opportunities in which people can come together, extending the museum outside beyond the building. 

Atelier Deshaus worked with the retained structures, hanging and cantilevering the new steel construction from them. They were able to complete the building within the allocated time, whilst avoiding any environmental impact implicit in demolition and reconstruction. Extending out  within the newly landscaped riverfront are the high-level public walkways, which penetrate the building at multiple levels, following the old coal shoot runs.

James Stirling with his architectural partner Michael Wilford designed the new Tate Gallery at Liverpool. Their designs preserved the exterior keeping the brick and stone exterior and the colonnade of sturdy Doric columns. The interior was however transformed into a configuration of simple galleries suitable for the display of modern art. It opened to the public in May 1988.

The former Bankside Power Station was originally built in two phases between 1947 and 1963. Designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott it is a prominent feature on the south bankside of the Thames, across the River from St Pauls Cathedral, 35 metres high and 152 metres metres long, with a boiler house alongside and a single central chimney. The site had been largely redundant since 1981 after years of supplying electricity to the City and to part of the borough of Southwark.

In 1994 the site was chosen by Tate as a new home to contemporary art collection. The Swiss architects Herzog & De Meuron were appointed to convert the power station into an international destination for visitors to engage and explore the collections. The expansive space of the turbine hall is a main feature of the building and an area in which site specific commissions are installed, allowing visitors to gather and interact  with the artwork in an informal and relaxed way.