Britain’s Tate Modern reopened its doors to the public on 17 June. Revamped by Swiss architecture agency Herzog & de Meuron, who also designed the Modern’s original Bankside Power Station conversion, the arrangement of collection favourites and new acquisitions will be reimagined within the space.
The gallery spaces created by architects Herzog & de Meuron are a less conventional shape than the expected white box. Photo: Iwan Baan
The Tate Modern was inaugurated in 2000 and has created a substantial impact on the development of the South Bank in London. One of four Tate galleries around the country, it attracts around 5 million visitors each year.
“Our aim was to create a building conglomerate which appears as one thing, not as a phase one and a phase two,” stated Jacques Herzog, half the namesake architect team.
The new entrance takes people from the Thames through the existing building and the Turbine Hall out to a new open plaza.
The new 10-storey Switch House has a striking 360-degree panoramic view of the London skyline from its rooftop viewing terrace. Photo: Iwan Baan
The refreshed space will offer visitors 60 per cent more display room to view works by artists from some 50 countries. The ambitious international acquisition program in recent years means the collection is now more diverse, including more photography, performance and film, and more work by female artists.
Turbine Hall will be at the heart of the new Tate Modern, with the existing six-storey Boiler House on one side, featuring the re-hung collection of some 800 works by over 300 artists, accessible for free. Digital technologies are more integrated into the viewer experience, with new interactive spaces like the popular Digital Drawing Bar, and an innovative app to further widen the museum's reach.
The new Tate Modern space offers 60 per cent more display space to view works by artists from around 50 countries. Pictured here, Ricardo Basbaum’ Capsules (NBP x me-you), 2000, presented by the Latin American Acquisitions Committee 2004.
The new 10-storey Switch House has a striking 360-degree panoramic view of the London skyline from its rooftop viewing terrace. Below are gallery spaces of less conventional shape, forming the foundation of the building. The architects’ objective was to refer back to the building as it once was, rough and industrial, creating the opposite of the white cube gallery with unabashedly direct and raw materials.
New performance commissions
The opening will be celebrated by free live performances and special events, notably a commissioned choral work by artist Peter Liversidge, performed on Saturday, 18 June by over 500 singers from community choirs across London. The Tanks will host new performance commissions running every day from 17 June to 3 July, highlighting live art. The museum will stay open until 10pm each evening this weekend.
Digital technologies are now more fully integrated into the viewer experience. Photo: Tate Photography
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, stated that the museum “is a shining example of the capital’s status as global leader in the arts, continually finding creative ways of supporting artists and reaching new audiences.”
Alistair Hudson, a Tate partner, concurred, “Museums and galleries are where we tell the story of our culture. Tate Modern has established itself as the one of the world’s principal amplifiers of human creativity that has infected and shaped our understanding of art and its role in society... connecting, supporting and reflecting the complex networks of creative endeavour that sustain us all.”
Find out more about the new Tate Modern.