The energy of the Tate Modern sweeps over visitors the moment they walk down the ramp past the brightly-lit bookstore and ride the escalators past translucent green glass panels. Each half-floor contains up to 16 galleries with stark white walls and concrete or unfinished wood floors. The fifth floor rises two stories to a café, shop and auditorium. A lightweight luminous roof, fabricated from translucent panels, floods the galleries with light and offers breathtaking views of London.
Designing the Tate Modern
By Jackie Craven, About.com Guide
Aikido Architecture at the Tate Modern
Galleries at the Tate Modern in London
Photo (cc) Flickr Members Steve & Jemma Copley
"Our strategy was to accept the physical power of Bankside's massive mountain-like brick building and to even enhance it rather than breaking it or trying to diminish it," Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron said in their project description. "This is a kind of Aikido strategy where you use your enemy's energy for your own purposes. Instead of fighting it, you take all the energy and shape it in unexpected and new ways."
Prev
- Reinventing a Power Plant at the Tate Modern
- Turbine Hall at the Tate Modern
- Aikido Architecture at the Tate Modern
- Adaptive Reuse at the Tate Modern
- Grand Spaces at the Tate Modern
- Transforming Tate Modern
- New Uses for Old Oil Tank Chambers at the Tate Modern
Old Buildings, New Uses
Adaptive ReuseStandards for RestorationSaving the South Bank
Explore Architecture
Must Reads
About.com Special Features
Holiday Central
What to eat, where to go, fun things to do and how to save money on the perfect gifts. More >
Make Your Own Scented Pine Cones
Bring a little of the fall season in your home with this easy-to-make craft. More >
©2009 About.com, a part of The New York Times Company.
All rights reserved.