Tate Gallery of Modern Art

A private exhibition space or a public event?

2

Kingston University 2010/2011

Faculty of Art, Design & Architecture AR3020. DISSERTATION School of Architecture & Landscape A CRITICAL BUILDING STUDY

BA (Hons) Architecture Module Leader: Irina Davidovici

Level 6 Supervisor: Christoph Lueder

Myrto Kamari

K0822741

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An Outline

Introduction

There will be a short presentation of the building, providing essential information to

the reader, in order to be smoothly introduced to this case study. The author‟s

focal point, considerations for public life and the importance of the physical

experience in H&dM‟s proposal for Tate Gallery of Modern Art, will also be set here,

as well as the way it is going to be analysed, the structure of the dissertation, that

is.

Chapter One – The Context

Location of the building within its surroundings. Characteristics of each

geographical space will be presented, in terms of time and culture, order to

construct the full picture of the scheme‟s time in general. What were the

architectural trends and how were we led to a boom of art exhibition spaces?

Chapter Two – Meeting the achitects

Architectural ideas both general and specific to the Tate Modern‟s proposal and

other works.

Chapter Three – Collaboration with and influences by artists

The close relationship of the practice with the artistic community examined

through the former‟s works.

Chapter Four – Changing uses

Transformation of the old Bankside Power Station into what it is today. References

to H&dM‟s strategic movements aiming to attain coherence throughout.

Conclusion

The author will try to specify the utter significance of this building from a social

aspect regarding the local and probably the global community. What does it

convey to the world? Were there any future cultural projects influenced by it?

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Contents

Outline 3

Introduction 5

Chapter One - The Context 8

1.1 Location and Surroundings 8

1.2 Historical Context 9

1.3 Social Context 11

Chapter Two 17

2.1 Introductions 17

2.2 Other works and architectural ideas 17

Chapter Three 25

3.1 Donald Judd 26

3.2 Joseph Beuys 26

3.3 Rémy Zaugg 27

3.3 Dan Graham 28

Chapter Four 34

4.1 The Pre-existing building‟s background 35

4.2 Description of the Pre-existing building 35

4.3 Dealing with the existing 36

Conclusion 46

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Introduction

Since its realisation in London on the turn of the Millennium, the Tate Gallery of

Modern Art has engaged the attention of many around the globe; partly because

of the architectural qualities it conveys and partly due to its role as a kind of

archetype within the discourse of art spaces. The architects, Herzog & de Meuron,

retaining a long-term relationship with the modern artistic world, ventured to

visualise what had been in papers described as the ideal art exhibition space. The

result, as they would put it, is a full experience rather than just a personal stylistic

idea materialised. The protagonist is the visitor and not the architect or even the

art displayed.

Examining the building under this scope, it is essential to present the setting of this

invention. It was not a flash of inspiration, but the outcome of a series of

developing conditions. First of all, during the last decades of the 20th century there

was a significant political and socio-economic twist. The advancement of

technology encouraged the implementation of large infrastructure works, which

were accompanied by high-rise building and corporate architecture. Along came

the need for redefining cities‟ focal points. Culture, with its high ideals, more

compatible with that time‟s zeitgeist than religion was, became the new absolute.

Markets became more involved in art, especially modern, which got to know

great appreciation. Consequently, a number of spectacular „art cathedrals‟

started to rise, as places for free expression of elevated notions. Beside artists,

architects too began to distinguish their works related to this trend as independent

pieces of art. It appeared as if there was a competition between the exhibition

spaces and the exhibited objects. The outcome of this period, which at times is still

unfolding into present, was a very sculptural and complex architecture,

characterised be irregular shapes, shiny materials and massive volumes. In addition

to the above, an important milestone was approaching, the Millennium. This was a

fresh argument for projects of grand extend in all aspects. For Britain of the same

date, building a museum for modern art had a symbolic notability of triple effect.

Principally, it would be the first cultural project after the Royal National Theatre,

which opened in 1976, and a conservative Thatcherian epoch that followed.

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Figure 1. Nicholas Serota

Furthermore, it would classify Britain among those countries that already had

prestigious modern cultural monuments. And, not to be overlooked, it would be a

power show-off at this worth-remembering moment, along with other impressive

national projects.

Severe criticism towards the selection of site and building to

accommodate such a grandiose plan by the Tate Trustees

was something to be expected. The deserted Bankside Power

Station lain to the downgraded area of Southwark did not

seem to match the ambitions of the public regarding a

millennium project. Nevertheless, it was to the advantage of

the Tate and the whole cultural community, that the director

of the institution, Sir Nicholas Serota (fig.1), descried this

industrial behemoth as of powerful potential. His contribution

throughout the realisation of this idea is remarkable. Having

located the site, it was his job to convince the Tate Trustees about its

appropriateness. It was also him who visualised the new venue as something

simple but vigorous, analogous to what modern art represents. Beyond the

conceptual parameters though, he had to deal with financial issues too. He had to

find donators and allies for the project and generally raise the funds. Except for the

site, he also traced the architects that would deliver the emprise, within a list of

high-profile firms. That was quite a risk, since the origins of the practice were non-

British and its reputation relatively confined among the British. He thus had to

introduce -at least- the Trustees to the work of the architects, so that they would

too vote for them. When the project began, he initiated an assertive

communication policy, in order for the event to gain publicity. His main target was

to make the oncoming venue the new attraction of the country and not only. Last

but not least, it was him who supported architects‟ vision to the very end, even at

times of doubt and conflict within the construction team.

The completion of this project was finally embraced even by the least enthusiastic.

Its value lies to the fact that it managed to regenerated the long-forgotten

adjacent community. Strategic design gestures gave Southwark a descent face to

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the riverfront and linked it to the City, a London area which had lost its former

prestige by that time.

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Chapter One

The Context

1.1 Location and Surroundings

The Tate Gallery of Modern Art is located in the London Borough of Southwark.

Southwark consists of eight departments, among which, Borough and Bankside

(fig.1). This is a highly mixed-use area, covering work, living and leisure activities,

and thus being one of the most interesting urban fabric mosaics in London. The

building occupies the same site and structure as the old Bankside Power Station by

Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, exactly opposite to Christopher Wren‟s St. Paul‟s Cathedral,

between Blackfriars and Southwark Bridges, and within ten minutes walking

distance from the City, London‟s financial centre. Other public access options

include St. Paul‟s, Mansion House, London Bridge and Southwark underground

stations, as well as the boat service that runs between Tate Britain at Millbank and

Tate Modern.

The building‟s north façade is overlooking the riverfront walkway, a very busy route,

used both by tourists and locals. Part of this is the Millennium Bridge (1998-2000) by

Foster and Partners in collaboration with sculptor Anthony Caro and Arup

engineers1, connecting the Tate Modern and St. Paul‟s. The east border is

comprised of a cluster of 17th century houses with their garages, a passageway

linking the south and the north sides of the site, as well as the Shakespeare‟s Globe

Theatre. As for the south boundary, it is formed by three new structures called

Bankside 1,2,3, on the site occupied by St. Christopher‟s and Tabard Houses until

2002. The mix-use complex promotes the further development of the Bankside, by

creating a network of pedestrian streets and places that open the way from

Southwark Street to the South to the riverfront to the North2. This development is in

line with Tate Modern‟s extension plans that focus on providing an integrated

public experience. Finally, to the West there is another group of protected

1 Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott, (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited, 2000), pp.22-23 2 http://www.townshendla.com/projects/london/bankside-26/ [accessed 10

th November 2010]

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buildings, Hopton‟s Alms Houses (fig.2), dating back to 17523. Adjacent to these

houses, a new, 12 to 24-storeys high, luxurious residential development called NEO

Bankside is currently being built by architects Rogers, Stirk, Habour & Partners4.

1.2 Historical Context

Apart from being in a key location, Tate Modern also benefited from the site‟s past

as well as the circumstances of its time.

Southwark‟s biography spans in time, starting from the point it was a significant

part of the Roman settlement of Londinium. The reason of its importance lies to the

fact that it connected Europe and south Britain to the City through the Stane and

Watling Roman Roads, and, finally, London Bridge, all extensively used by travellers

and pilgrims. Another reason for its fame was its provision of shelters entitled Inns,

which were -and still are- found along Borough High Street. Different kinds of

activities were taking place in this area, including theatre performances5, fairs,

trade6, and also crime. During the 19th century it experienced great changes in

population numbers, which rose and drop dramatically, however it remained

densely inhabited. The living standards were extremely low by that time, and

Southwark was considered to be one of the poorest parts of London. The

economy was based on tanning, food processing, printing and bookbinding, hop

trade, engineering, etc. In the next century, the number of warehouses and

wharves along the riverside hugely increased. World War II and The Blitz came to

inhibit this activity, turning a great part of the area into an abandoned industrial

site to be reconstructed a while later. Post-war era saw a fall in housing

development and traditional industry, while commercial and office facilities

flourished. Only in the 1990‟s a wave of reformation occurred, focusing on

conversion. In 1998 the pioneer developer Indi Johal transformed the unused Town

3 British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=65333 [accessed 10

th November 2010]

4 NEO Bankside http://www.neobankside.com/index.php?p=home&s= [accessed 10

th November 20100

5 The Globe and Rose Theatres live in Bankside since the late 16

th century

6 Trade was taking place along the riverside and Borough Market, which was functioning as wholesale until 10am and

then as retail

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Hall Chambers into high quality apartments7. A long series of similar conversions

followed, sometimes in a much larger scale, such as the Maidstone Buildings and

the Berkeley Homes‟ Tabard Square. At the same time, Southwark begins to gain

high reputation among tourists, who roll in to visit the Borough Market, museums,

galleries, old pubs and theatres. Especially Bankside during the last 20 years has

been characterised as cultural hub.

The former industrial community attracted all those avant-garde artists, who,

according to Swiss painter Rémy Zaugg, „want a strong place, big and tough‟.

Other examples of such a colonisation are Hoxton in London, RAW-tempel in Berlin,

Factory 798 in Beijing or even the small town of St. Ives in Cornwall, where the

„empty sail lofts, (…)(relics of a) declining fishing industry, made excellent (artist)

studios‟8. As architect Karin Templin suggests in her article „CREATIVE‟, this sub-

culture of artists, re-inventing forgotten urban zones, dates back to the 1960s New

York SoHo9. There a number of artists started renting spaces, forming associations,

and opening galleries, while, on the other hand, New Yorkers perceived the area

as a „void‟, a „non-district‟10. As a natural consequence, these areas capture

developers‟ interest, who race towards them to buy properties cheap and resell

them at least triple the initial price, usually promoting them to the prospective

buyers as „cult‟ places to live or have business in. Finally, when the masses begin to

flock, the original „inventors‟ make their way to new discoveries, because either

they can‟t afford the living costs or they crave inspiration into less refined

neighbourhoods. In Southwark‟s case, what may differ is that it has always been a

residential area apart from being an industrial one. Nevertheless, since Charles

Booth created his 1898-99 London Poverty Map, this area stood as one of the most

impecunious and least attended. Even when Sir Giles Gilbert Scott built the

Bankside Power Station, already a landmark with monumental character in its

time, conditions and public opinion about the site did not amend. On the other

7 Reilly, Leonard, The Story of the Borough, Neighbourhood History No.7 (London, London Borough of Southwark,

2009), p.111 8 Spalding, Frances, The Tate: A History (London, Tate Galley Publishing Limited, 1998), p.261

9 Templin, Karin, CREATIVE, glass magazine, issue 1: grace, spring 2010, p.225

10 Barr, Alistair, SoHo, New York: MIXED USE, DENSITY AND THE POWER OF THE MYTH,

http://www.barrgazetas.com/papers/SoHo.pdf [accessed 25th October 2010]

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hand, since the 1940‟s there were big plans for Bankside. According to the County

of London Plan 1943:

“ 'It is one of the great anomalies of the capital that while the river, from

Westminster eastwards, is lined on the north side with magnificent

buildings and possesses a spacious and attractive embankment road,

the corresponding South Bank, excepting St Thomas' Hospital and County

Hall, should present a depressing, semi-derelict appearance'.

The area was to be redeveloped with new bridges, railways

placed underground, business premises, blocks of flats, institutions

and a cultural centre with theatre and concert hall (eventually

built as the Royal Festival Hall). The plan specifically excluded

factories and industrial premises.”11

These seem to have been finally triggered by the coming of Tate Modern.

However, the realisation of London‟s first gallery devoted to modern art was to

take place as a natural outcome of a series of international and national

occurrences.

1.3 Social Context

During the 1980‟s the international financial markets flourished and so did its art

markets. Huge amounts of money were spent on art and every other sector

somehow related to it. Concurrently, personal computers invaded the design

profession and impelled creativity. Architecture became capable of expressing

itself in ways and forms never perceived before. It was not until a year after the fall

of the stock markets in 1987 that people first confronted the notion of de-

constructivism in architecture. An exhibition directed by Philip Johnson12 and

entitled Deconstructivist Architecture at the Museum of Modern Art in New York

11

Murrey, Stephen, The rise, fall and transformation of Bankside power station, 1890-2010, Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society, http://www.glias.org.uk/gliasepapers/bankside.html [accessed 18th October 2010] (pp.3-4) 12

The American architect Philip Johnson along with Alfred Barr and Henry-Russell Hitchcock were responsible for another pioneering and influential exhibition at the same museum in 1932 called The International Style: Architecture Since 1922. This was again introducing to an ignorant public a new movement in architecture, which by that time was modern architecture.

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was trying to link mainly unbuilt works by Frank O. Gehry, Daniel Libeskind, Rem

Koolhaas, Peter Eisenman, Zaha Hadid, Bernard Tschumi and Coop Himmelblau13.

Their designs, focusing on forms, have been producing loud buildings that sock, by

the employment of large scale, flamboyant new materials and unprecedented

shapes that seem to freeze motion, as Gehry describes his Kurt Schwitter‟s Merzbau

in Hanover14.

The next international construction wave of the same period regarded

infrastructure, high-rise buildings and temporal structures. Due to urbanization, a

number of facilitating projects took place mostly in the developing countries and

was characterised by massiveness, not always accompanied by quality. These

secured worldwide fame for their architects, and thus the nickname „star

architect‟ (or designer) made its appearance. Such grand projects were the

Kansai airport (1987-1994) on an artificial island in Osaka by Renzo Piano, the Chep

Lap Kok (1991-1998) airport in Hong Kong by Sir Norman Foster, the Chanel Tunnel

(1988-1994) that connected Paris and London, the Torre de Collserola (1988-1992)

in Barcelona by Sir Norman Foster, the Petronas Towers (1991-1997) in Kuala Lumpur

by Cesar Pelli, and the Louvre Pyramid (1984-1989) in Paris by I.M. Pei among

others.

It was not accidental that the latter project of the above list took place in Europe.

During the 1980‟s and early 1990‟s art-related constructions were mainly dominant

in this area. As Philip Jodidio suggests this was the time when culture attempted

compensating society for the loss of the splendour and prestige of the old great

cathedrals, and thus providing the cities with new landmarks15. Except for the

Louvre Pyramid in France, another example is the glazed Carré d‟Art (1984-1993),

a mediatheque including a contemporary art gallery adjacent to a roman arena

(fig.3) at Nîmes by British Norman Foster16. The Californian star architect Frank

Gehry got his first commission in Europe in 1987, when he was assigned by the Vitra

furniture manufacturer to design its museum in Weil am Rhein. From 1991 to 1997

he also built the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao using state-of-the-art technology

13

Jodidio, Philip, NEW FORMS: ARCHITECTURE IN THE 1990s, (Köln & New York, Taschen, 1997), pp.7-8 14

Ibid, p.10 15

Ibid, p.83 16

Foster+Partners http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/0344/Default.aspx [accessed 18th October 2010]

13

to attain sculptural forms (fig.4) similar to those of the Vitra Museum (fig.5). In

Germany, Frankfurt got its Museum of Modern Art (1983-1991) by Austrian Hans

Hollein. On the other hand, two equally prominent projects of the time were built in

USA and Japan respectively. The former was the curvilinear Getty Center (1984-

1997) (fig.6) in Los Angeles by Richard Meier. The latter was the Yatsushiro

Municipal Museum (1989-1991) (fig.7) in the industrial city of Kyushu by Toyo Ito.

The British could not escape this swirl of developments. Having on one hand the

new millennium approaching and on the other hand big cities of the world

displaying their astonishing art venues, it was high time to do something about it.

Under the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, it was Peter Palumbo, Chairman of

the Arts Council since 1989, who „proposed the rehabilitation of the cultural glory

to be found in Britain‟s cathedrals, churches and other public buildings, with the

intention of creating a mood of celebration to boost morale and rouse

expectations.‟17 Concurrently, a series of projects that aimed at lifting the face of

the riverfront were taking place. To name a few, the St. George Wharf housing and

office complex at Vauxhall Cross by Broadway Malyan architects, the Parliament

View commercial and residential development at Albert Embankment by EPR

architects, the Millennium Wheel and Pier enterprise at County Hall by David Marks

and Julia Barfield Architects, the Hungerford footbridge between Waterloo and

Westminster bridges by Lifschutz Davidson architects, the Charing Cross Pier at

Victoria Embankment by Seine Design, the Somerset House redeveloped as a

cultural and artistic centre building at the Strand by Peter Inskip and Peter Jenkins,

the Tourist and Information Centre at Southwark Gateway by Eric Parry Architects,

the South Bank Master Plan, targeting at revamping a 30-acre site, by Richard

Rogers Partnership, and the cylindrical Bankside Lofts at Hopton Street, to the west

of Bankside Power Station, by Piers Gough and CZWG. It would have been a

wonder if the old Power Station and its site had remained unnoticed or

unaffected.

17

Spalding, Frances, The Tate: A History (London, Tate Galley Publishing Limited, 1998), p.267

14

Figure 1. Top: Aerial view of Southbank and Bankside highlighting Tate Modern and protected buildings around it Bottom: Southwark departments map - Borough & Bankside to the northwest corner

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Figure 2. Alms Houses on Hopton Street (at the front) and Rogers' NEO Bankside development (at the back)

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Figure 3. Old and new blend together harmoniously

Figure 4. Art as architecture or architecture as art?

Figure 5. Emblematic figure on its own can stand as an object, probably aiming to denote its owner's and/or its creator's non-conventional mentality

Figure 6. Looking like a cylinder in section in a controlled setting Figure 7. Its small scale aims to fit into its humanly scaled surroundings. Considered

to be one of the most vivid examples of Japanese architecture in the 1990’s

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Chapter Two

Meeting the architects

2.1 Introductions

The Herzog and de Meuron architectural practice is based in Basel, Switzerland. It

was founded by Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron (fig.1) in 1978, after a long-

term friendship through childhood and university years at the ETH Zurich Faculty of

Architecture. Its premises are very simple in terms of decoration and rather small.

By the time of the competition regarding the new Tate Gallery of Modern Art in

1994, two other partners had joined the firm, Harry Gugger (fig.2) in 1991 and

Christine Binswanger (fig.3) in 1994. All members participated in the early stages of

the Tate project. Christine‟s strong design skills set her in charge of the proposal

drawings. After this, Harry, who was more experienced and technologically

literate, replaced her. He was the one who was closely monitoring the construction

throughout its realisation. Pierre‟s role was to run the office back in Basel and

discuss the process with Jacques and Harry, when they were getting back from

London. Finally, Jacques was responsible for all meetings with the Tate‟s Trustees,

presentations and final decisions.

2.2 Other works and architectural ideas

When H & de M undertook the commission of Tate Modern, they had 130 works in

their portfolio. These were mostly small-scale, both private and public. In many

cases, they regarded extensions of existing structures or, either partial or full,

conversions of houses, apartments and offices, as well as many renovations.

Moreover, they had involved in a master planning, taken part in a few urban

design competitions, some of which won, designed some exhibition spaces,

museums and artist studios, contributed in exhibitions, and completed a number of

independent projects. Their career was showcasing their ability to handle a wide

range of briefs in an equally broad variety of contexts.

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These skills and mentality could be attributed originally to Herzog‟s and de

Meuron‟s common educational place and time. Open to new stimuli, they found

intriguing the human-centric face of architecture, something that occurred after

1968. Later, with Aldo Rossi they redefined architecture, relating it to building and

only that. They learnt how to observe and interpret. In the years that followed they

distanced themselves from the blind adherence to the images, and became

„absolutely anti-representational‟18. According to Herzog, this is the opposite of

what contemporary architecture most frequently comes up with; by just copying

the historical forms, they only achieve a superficial connection to the context19. It

evolved into a concern of utmost significance that the visitors or occupiers of their

buildings would have an unpolished, physical experience of their spaces. To

achieve that, they began employing strategies appropriate for each design and

programme. A good example of this stance is the Ricola Company‟s packing and

distribution building in Mulhouse, France (1992-1993) (fig.4). The idea includes a

steel skeleton under a light-permeable polycarbonate skin. What is interesting is

the inside of the plastic panels, onto which a leaf photograph from the 1920‟s by

Karl Blossfeld has been imprinted20. The motif is repeated along the walls. Since

Ricola is fabricating herb products, one would expect that the leaf motif

symbolises the activities that take place inside the building. Nevertheless, the

specific image was not selected as a connotation to that. It was exactly what it

depicted; an immediate correlation to the adjacent garden; no latent meanings

into it. They just set an obvious question that comes to mind dealing with the

specific topography „what is a garden?‟ or „what constitutes a garden?‟, and the

answer is obvious, leaves. So, the building they construct in the garden is made of

„leaves‟.

„Pictorial analogies‟21 is a key theme in H & de M‟s work. It is the same thing when

they abnegate all architectural clichés and insist on abstaining from established

architectural styles. On the other hand, „they do not seek to invent a new

18

Kipnis, Jeffrey, ‘A conversation with Jacques Herzog (H&deM)’, EL CROQUIS, 84 (1997), p. 18 19 Wang, Wilfred, Herzog & de Meuron (Zurich, Artemis, 1992), p.143 20 http://www.ricola.com/index.cfm?uuid=980EB29A2B351571E89BB33A63B4A4B3 [accessed 20

th November 2010]

21 Wang, p.143

19

language‟22; they settle with producing something that resembles to one‟s culture

original schemata, because in this way the new piece sits in a site like it has been

there forever; it is thus specific and self-evident23, like tradition. Such is the Plywood

House (1985) in Bottmingen, which is a reference to the „wooden barrack-like

buildings for kindergartens or for sports‟24 in Basel. The two are not identical, but the

pre-existing lends the new its specific form and „ordinariness‟25 no longer available.

In the same way, the rough oak floor in Tate Modern‟s galleries manages to aptly

reveal its industrial qualities, lent to it by its predecessor26.

Another important aspect in H & de M‟s work is the idea of topography. This

emerged rather as a need, given that the architects began their career amidst

the post-modernist movement. During this period, orientation within the

architectural discourse appeared to be lost, with historic and futuristic trends

asserting an equal share, as it has been brightly visualised in Ridley Scott‟s Blade

Runner27 in 1982. H & de M‟s response to that was to start giving weight to the

„entire range of features found in a specific terrain‟28, the way geologists read the

earth layers. This principle has been clearly consolidated into their Dominus Winery

project in California (1998). The „stealth winery‟29 has been fully integrated with its

environment and vineyards, forming a linear means of transition between different

soil and light condition, as seen from above. Seen from the ground level and a

distance, its gabion masses seem to disappear in the mountainous background

(fig.5). Furthermore, the basalt rocks, from the nearby canyon, that fill the gabions

protect the interior from the extreme temperatures of the region. An analogical

manner of stratification had been at the same time employed in Tate Modern‟s

planning. The scheme incorporates the topographical elements connecting

existing routes and providing new ones.

22 Wang, p.13 23 Herzog, Jacques and Pierre De Meuron, ‘Two Fields of Operation: Surfaces and Structures’ LOTUS, no.76 (1993) p.121 24 Wang, p.143 25 Ibid 26 Herzog, Jacques, ‘Thinking of Gadamer’s Floor’, Anything, ed. by Cynthia C. Davidson (London, MIT Press, 2001), p.115 27 Mack, Gerhard, Herzog & de Meuron: The Complete Works, vol.4: 1997-2001 (Basel, Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 2009), p.9 28 Ibid, p.11 29 http://www.dominusestate.com/architecture.html [accessed 5th December 2010]

20

As examined above, H & de M are not afraid of following the simplest path in the

course of providing a solution. Both in terms of building forms and construction

materials, they prefer, what others call, conservative vehicles. However, once the

work is closely observed, the components lose their regularity and acquire new

qualities. This is the game of the seducer as seen in Pasolini‟s films, to which the

architects were early introduced through their studies in ETH Zurich30. In

architecture‟s case the seducer is the architect and his role is to evoke the senses

of its public. As such, the physical world takes a central position, being the medium

of experiencing an architectural space, and transforming Architecture into the

most powerful communication tool. The Goetz Gallery in Munich (1992)

materialises these ideas. The building, made of glass and timber, is a simple

rectangular box in form, consisting of three layers, which do not, however betray

the layout of the interior. The first bottom layer is a timber case half buried in the

ground, while the other half is a translucent glass envelope above ground, which

brings light to the basement. The middle layer is opaque having a matte glass

crown on its top, which again brings light to the level below through clerestories.

The impression of the building differs under changing lighting conditions, both

internal and external. Sometimes the glass appears solid making the whole

building reticent, while other times it seems as if the structure is floating31 (fig.6).

These straightforward strategies were later adapted in Tate Modern‟s design in the

form a „Light Beam‟. Resting on the top of the brick mass, other than signalling the

conversion, it provides clerestories to the galleries below, and also satisfies the

sense of vision in different ways, depending again on daylight conditions.

30 Mack, Gerhard, Herzog & de Meuron: The Complete Works, vol.3: 1992-1996 (Basel, Birkhäuser, 2005), p.7 31 „Gallery for a private collection of modern art, Goetz Collection, Munich, Germany, 1989-1992’, in ‘Special Issue: Herzog & de Meuron: 1978-2002’, A+U (2002 Feb.), p.170

21

Figure 1. Jacques Herzog (left) & Pierre de Meuron (right)

Figure 2. Harry Gugger Figure 3. Christine Binswanger

22

Figure 2. Top: Ricola Mulhouse during daytime Centre: Same building during night-time Bottom: View from the interior towards the garden

23

Figure 5. Top: Dominus Winery as seen from the street Centre: Approaching the main entrance Bottom: View from inside out

24

Figure 6. 1. The Goetz Gallery in Munich during daytime 2. The Tate Modern in London during daytime 3. The Goetz Gallery at dusk 4. The Tate Modern at dusk 5. The Goetz Gallery – clerestories 6. The Tate Modern – clerestories 7. The Goetz Gallery – ground floor, the glass 8. The Tate Modern – ground floor café; same mirror as mirror; reflections of passers-by game as in the precedent study of the Goetz Gallery

25

Chapter Three

Collaboration with and influences by artists

“My attention has always been caught more by the world of certain

contemporary artists than by the world of contemporary architects. Artists have a

blank wall when they get up in the morning. They have no programme of

requirements from a client. They have to fill this void somehow. They need more of

their own imagination to fill this void, to develop their language. They are freer but

most architects could not live with that freedom. This is the scariest thing but also

the most liberating. And that is what I like about artists.”32

Jacques Herzog

“Especially in conceptual and installation art, it seems that it is rather the artists

who tend to employ working methods and particularly working processes – such as

the sequence of inception, working through drawings and then commissioning a

third party to execute a project – derived from architectural practice.”33

Torsten Schmiedeknecht

There has always been and indissoluble bond between Art and Architecture. Since

the former stands as a medium of free expression, the latter frequently tends to find

inspiration within this vast world of ideas. No matter how tied the architect‟s hands

are, in terms of financial and pragmatic conditions, he usually manages to

translate this abstract declarations into something tactile. It is different, however,

when this interpretation takes the form of imitation, instead of specification.

32 Curtis J.R. Williams, ‘A conversation with Jacques Herzog: THE NATURE OF ARTIFICE’, ‘Special Issue: H & de M 1998-2002’, EL CROQUIS 109/110, p.28 33 Schmiedeknecht Torsten, ‘Art and Architecture: A Reciprocal Relationship?’, in ‘Art+Architecture’, ed. by Ivan Margolius, Architectural Design, Vol.73, No 3 (May/June 2003), p.91

26

3.1 Donald Judd

Being an explorer by nature, Donald Judd brought a revolution to what Modernism

represented. He started using industrial materials, such as Plexiglass, aluminium, red

and regular brass, Formica, sheet steel and plywood, etc, as a reaction to the

traditional methods. His aim was to render autonomous pieces of art, focusing on

purity of form, colour, materials and spaces they created around them (fig.1). His

work widely characterised as minimal, was conceived by him as „the simple

expression of complex thought‟34. To explain this further, his essay Specific Objects

(1965) refers to the „physio-mental procedure of perception. (His work) does

everything to avoid associations that have nothing to do with themselves‟35. All

about his boxes then, is their actual condition as industrially fabricated objects and

not as sculptural pieces with references to their context. H & de M were

introduced to Judd‟s ideas through an exhibition of his work in the Basel Art

Museum, and an essay of another artist, friend and collaborator, Rémy Zaugg in

the 1970‟s. Nevertheless, it was not until their collaboration with Joseph Beuys and

that this influence materialised.

3.2 Joseph Beuys

“...people can only express themselves in ways that have material forms.”36

The unconventionality of Joseph Beuys as an artist becomes apparent once

considered that his career began through the field of medicine. His interests,

including the natural environment, defined the way in which he would develop his

work. In that appreciation, the direct way to communicate and to perceive

something is through our senses. This is why he chooses recognisable materials,

such as copper, plywood, felt and fat, to create a language to work with. In

contrast to Donald Judd, he loads them with meaning, other than what they

34 http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/judd/ [accessed 20

th December 2010]

35 Mack Gerhard, Herzog & de Meuron: The Complete Works, vol.3: 1992-1996 (Basel, Birkhäuser,2005), p.8 36 Beuys Joseph, Was ist Kunst?: Werkstattgespräch mit Beuys, Translation: What is Art?: Conversation with Joseph Beuys, ed. by Volker Harlan, trans. by Matthew Barton and Shelley Sacks (Forest Row, Clairview Books, 2004), p.21

27

originally betray; and this occurs through a method of perception following a

semantic change. H & de M were greatly influenced by it, something that

becomes obvious in the way they treat their surfaces and use simple materials

diversely – see the Plywood House, Studio Frei (fig.2), and Signal Box Auf dem Wolf

(fig.1). Beyond that, they also adapted from Beuys the idea of continuous evolve,

or incompleteness. In regard to that, Beuys explains:

“The nature of my sculpture is not fixed and finished. Processes

continue in most of them: chemical reactions, fermentations,

colour changes, decay, drying up. Everything is in a state of

change.”37

3.3 Rémy Zaugg

What seems to validate the words of Torsten Schmiedeknecht (see beginning of

this chapter, second quote) is the collaboration of Rémy Zaugg and H & de M for

the design of the master plan of Bourgogne‟s University in Dijon (1989-90). The

project was assigned to the artist, but in order to complete it, he introduced the

architects into it. A number of other collaborations followed; the exhibition of H &

de Meuron‟s work in the Pompidou Centre in Paris (1995), the Fünf Höfe (Five

Courts) in Munich (1994-2003), where they also worked with photographer Thomas

Ruff, and the Aargauer Museum Extension (2003), to name a few. As both parts

claim, this professional relationship is based on mutual contribution. It is rather a

simultaneous exploration of conditions, the Beuys would do; they insist on

redefining everything that appears as fixed. The result of this continuous dialogue

between them was Rémy Zaugg‟s atelier (1996) at Mulhouse-Pfastatt, France.

Retaining the rectangular box form, learnt from Judd and previously applied on

the Goetz Gallery, the rough concrete structure serves work and exhibition needs.

Being built concurrently with the Tate Modern, it was as prototype for the latter‟s

exhibition spaces (fig.3). Since the artist had long been interested and studying

37 Ibid, p.9

28

„what an ideal exhibition space will be like‟, this project incorporates all these

conclusions:

„The planes of the spaces... should be rectangular in outline... The

walls and ceilings should be of an identical material and painted

white, with a slightly textured finish, whereas the floor should be

constructed of “a natural material of a medium tonal value with

broken colouring... If it is necessary to have installations for

delivering heat, ventilation, natural or artificial light, then... (it)

should be masked by some kind of glass enclosure”... Within each

group of gallery spaces, there should be no hierarchy and the

external views establish a sense of personal location when passing

from one site to the next.‟38

Another interesting element of project is one of its exterior walls. The architects

deliberately, in the course of experimenting with textures, omitted putting gutters

onto the roof. So, when it rains and the water floods the roof, it starts running onto

the concrete wall. Pollution and water, then, leave their marks, contributing to the

„incomplete‟ and ever-changing character of the built object, in the sense of

Beuys (fig.4).

3.4 Dan Graham

Another theme that has always held the interest of H & de M was the public

space. Apart from Beuys, Dan Graham extensively experimented on this field. After

a series of photographs depicting row houses of the suburbs in a sculptural way, he

moved on to examine the corporate architecture of North American cities. By the

mid-1970, he came up with the remark that the public space was largely being

privatised by the corporate towers. What was also happening, though, was that,

through this privatisation, the courtyards of these buildings were used by the public

38 Allison Peter, ‘Collaboration in the Turbine Hall: The Tate Gallery of Modern Art by Herzog and de Meuron’, in ‘Herzog & de Meuron: Tate Gallery of Modern Art, London, UK 1994-1999’ A+U, No 8 (347) (1999 AUG.), p.88

29

again as gardens and plazas. In this it becomes difficult to distinct the inside from

the outside, with the glass façades of the buildings to range between

translucency, transparency and mirroring39. This idea was later adapted by H & de

M in the form of, e.g. the Turbine Hall in Tate Modern and the Fünf Höfe (Five

Courts) in Munich. These different uses of glass also meant for Graham the

transition between urban and suburban environments. Studying that, he made a

model „Alteration to a Suburban House‟ (image on the cover), where he switched

the exterior solid wall of the house with a transparent glass façade, and the

parallel interior wall with a mirror glass. Thus, the boundaries between the two

worlds were confused, creating a new zone40, as the privacy was lost, and, in

addition, both people from inside and outside could awkwardly see themselves on

the mirror. Inspired by this experiment, H & de M began to use glass in a wide

range of manners, even achieving to give it a „three-dimensional‟ appearance, as

in the Institute for Hospital Pharmaceuticals in Basel.

39 Mack Gerhard, Herzog & de Meuron: The Complete Works, vol.3: 1992-1996 (Basel, Birkhäuser,2005), p.16 40 Ibid, p.17

30

Figure 1. Top: Donald Judd’s 100 mill Aluminum Boxes in Marfa Texas (1982-86) Bottom: H & de M’s Signal Box Auf dem Wolf in Basel (1994)

31

Figure 2. Top: Feuerstätte II, by Joseph Beuys in Collaboration with H&deM (1978) Felt suits, copper and iron elements Centre: Plywood House, Bottmingen, by H&deM (1984-85) Bottom: Façade of the Photographic Studio Frei, Weil am Rhein, by H&deM (1892) Roofing felt as a wall-constructing material In response to its informal context

32

Figure 3. Top left: Atelier Rémy Zaugg, exhibition space Top right: Tate Modern, exhibition space; artificial lighting flushed into the ceiling Centre: Tate Modern, untreated oak floor Bottom left: Tate Modern, cavities within the walls hide the services Bottom right: Tate Modern, exiting some galleries, the visitor views the Turbine Hall; to the North galleries Giles Scott’s cathedral windows with views to the river help to orientate

33

Figure 4. Atelier Rémy Zaugg, the water marks on the concrete wall give it a richer texture, in perfect match with its context, which will permanently be transforming

34

Chapter Four

Changing uses

“A really imaginative conversion can be more exciting than a new building” 41

Nicholas Serota

“Our approach is closer to Viollet-le-Duc, with a pinch of Asian martial arts. We

compare this procedure with the Aikido strategy of using the opponent’s energy to

gain the upper hand. These tactics lead to something new which is, ideally, twice

as effective.”42

Jacques Herzog

The old Power Station, when acquired from the Tate, was a redundant, vast

industrial space full of rusty machinery and mounds of dust. There was no obvious

element indicating that one of the world‟s leading art gallery‟s would occur within

these walls. On the contrary, what people saw in Bankside was, of course, Sir Giles

Gilbert Scott‟s brick masterpiece, but also a monolithic, gloomy, once productive

and always private building that had nothing to do with arts, culture,

entertainment or exaltation, which some would later experience in the oncoming

Tate Gallery‟s of Modern Art exhibition rooms. It was the experienced eye of

Jacques Herzog and Harry Gugger of the Herzog and de Meuron architectural firm

that succeeded in visualising the transformation of this forgotten realm into a fully

working, conducive organism. However, this rebirth meant hard work to the

extremes for all involved parts. In this course, what needs to be addressed first is

the historical background of the former station.

41

Spalding Frances, The Tate: A History (London, Tate Galley Publishing Limited, 1998), p. 279 42

Herzog, Jacques, and Pierre de Meuron, NATURAL HISTORY, ed. by Philip Ursprung (Baden, Müller Publishers, 2005), p.149

35

4.1 The Pre-existing Building’s Background

The station was built in two phases, between 1947 and 1963. Much as it was

accredited, it had to close down by 1981 due to an increase in fuel prices. Except

for the south part, operating property of London Electricity until recently, the rest of

the building remained unoccupied up to the time that the Tate became

interested in buying it in 1994. Its architect, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, well known in his

time, owed his fame partly to his grandfather, Sir George Gilbert Scott, the

architect behind the Foreign Office and various churches, and partly to a series of

works characterised by versatility, attention to detail, and an ability to marry

tradition to modernity43. Having in his curriculum vitae a respectable number of

Roman Catholic churches44 among other memorable works, such as the Battersea

Power Station and K6 telephone box, it was no surprise he employed vertical,

ribbon-windows sets to run the full height and length of the northern elevation as

well as another set of such windows to the east and west façades. What he had in

mind was the creation of a building that „would be a satisfactory neighbour to St.

Paul‟s‟45 and this becomes quite obvious in his preliminary sketches, as well as his

first design for Bankside Power Station, where the two 99m-high chimneys (later

reduced into one) look as reminiscent of churches‟ bell towers46.

4.2 Description of the Pre-existing building

The reddish brick envelope, covering the steel structure below it, consisted of more

than 4.2 million bricks47, breathing a sense of solidity, heaviness, power. In plan, the

rectangular building had been divided into three zones (viewed in cross section),

each entertaining different services. The northern one, along the river façade, kept

the Boiler House, while the colossal middle zone, called Turbine Hall

accommodated four turbines, which used steam from the boilers48. The third,

43

Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited, 2000), pp.178-179 44

Ibid, p.178 45

Ibid, p.182 46

Ibid 47

Tate Gallery of Modern Art (London, Tate Gallery, c.1996) p.2 48

Sabbagh Karl, Power into Art (London, Penguin Books Ltd, 2000), p.10

36

facing south, was the Switch House, where the conversion from high voltage to low

voltage electricity was taking place49. Except for the above ground spaces, the

station had a significant below ground part, where more machinery and pipes

were found. The southern part of the basement was dedicated to three grandiose

oil tanks. An overall impression of the building‟s size is given briskly by Viscount

Samuel during the debate of the 19th May 1947 about the „Proposed Bankside

Power Station‟:

I do not know whether your Lordships have all fully realized the immense size

of the structure which is to be erected on the south bank of the river

opposite St. Paul's. Its length is to be 450 feet. St. Paul's is 515 feet, so it is nine-

tenths the length of the Cathedral; or, if we consider this building in which we

are now meeting and have in our minds the long river front of the Houses of

Parliament from the Clock Tower to the Victoria Tower, this building will be

just about half as long as the Houses of Parliament. The height of it is to be 87

feet. The average height of this building is about 80 feet.50

4.3 Dealing with the existing

Herzog and de Meuron‟s entry to competition had something unique. It was

suggesting for the first time internationally the full adaption of a gigantic-scale

existing industrial building51. And that was very much in line with the oncoming

needs of the densely built and inhabited urban centres of the world; or in other

words, in harmony with tradition, not as a typology indicator, but as conventional

wisdom that pleads for preservation and conservation as means of economy.

What‟s ironic, the then unknown Swiss architectural firm had unintentionally

respected British‟s particular affection towards Tradition.

49

Ibid 50

http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1947/may/19/proposed-bankside-power-station [accessed 25th September 2010] 51

Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited, 2000), p. 15

37

Having survived its polemicists and the high possibility of its demolishment, either

due to its desolation or a winning competition entry proposing a new building, the

station needed to be surveyed. The results would provide useful guidelines in the

framework of changing use. And since the Herzog & de Meuron proposal wanted

the brick skin to remain, this would be the starting point in terms of testing its

endurance. The engineering consultants adjudged the structure and bricks to be

in good condition52. The architects‟ view of the skin was that of being very fragile

and difficult to handle, in terms of its almost uninterrupted solidity and symmetry,

and intervening to it would cause the change of the building‟s expression53. Thus,

they only abstracted elements that had been added to the structure through

time, among which a wrapped-around-the-chimney element on the ground

level54, exposing once again the clear form of the tower. Consequently, their major

proposal regarding the north elevation, the Light Beam, as they called it, could

initiate a dialogue with the existing vertical component.

The controversy between the dark and heavy member on one hand, and the airy

member on the other hand would create a much-needed balance55.

Furthermore, the Light Beam would be the signal of the Bankside Power Station‟s

alteration of course56, a fact that, unless this unit, could pass unnoticed at the

beginnings. However, the Light Beam had another three practical uses, one of

them being the accommodation of two extra floors, where the café-restaurant

and members room were placed57. The second deals with the illumination of both

the top-floor galleries, and the Turbine Hall beneath, while the last provides

protection from weather. Of course, there would have to be further illumination

sources, artificial lighting, to secure that spaces are always lit sufficiently. The

galleries of the 3rd and 4th floors would benefit from the „cathedral‟ floor-to-ceiling

windows, but also have flush lights on their ceilings. The Turbine Hall, nevertheless,

needed artificial lighting, a problem solved by the Bay Windows.

52

Spalding Frances, The Tate: A History (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited, 1998), p.280 53

Sabbagh, p.67 54

Moore, p.127 55

Morris Francis ed., Tate Modern: The Handbook, 2nd

rev. ed. (London, Tate Publishing, 2010), p.47 56

Ibid 57

When the sun sets and the lights to the interior of the glass structure are turned on, pedestrians onto Millennium Bridge or just across the river can see the shadows of people moving in that spaces. Hence, this stands as a proof that the vast, dark building, despite its gloominess, is actually alive.

38

Between the Boiler House and the Turbine Hall there was a row of steel columns

running the full height of the building and notionally separating the two spaces.

The architects retained them, but subtly managed to interrupt their verticality by

introducing the idea of some kind of „internal balconies‟, within artificial light boxes

covered with translucent glass. These prominent objects would give a floating

impression, while carrying the people onto them58. Except for the above, the Bay

Windows were very important components of the design in terms of human

experience and social interaction (fig.1). They would provide a space for people

to rest, when moving from one gallery to another, and meet59. Moreover, they

would enhance the connection between the Galleries accommodated into the

Boiler House, and the Turbine Hall, integrating the experience of the visitors60.

Another key feature of H & de M‟s proposal was the idea of introducing the

Turbine Hall as a plaza or galleria accessible to everyone61. By removing the

existing ground floor of this room, the architects created a 152m long and 35m

high space62 that, besides from providing exhibition space for oversized art works,

was meant to welcome the visitors in a very celebrating way. For the ones who

came from the west side of the building there was another surprise waiting.

The west entrance was denoted by a wide ramp, which was ingeniously starting to

slope quite a few meters outside the building, blending naturally with landscape.

People coming from Southwark would be hard not to feel inclined to slide towards

the entrance. Even if they didn‟t intend to visit the Gallery, the Ramp would still act

as a reference point, another meeting spot63. But once they got past the entrance

and within the Turbine Hall, they would find themselves overwhelmed by the

theatricality of the space, having to confront both the vastness above their heads

and probably an imposing, abstract and usually provoking piece of art. This would

be their first contact with the venue, a prologue to what they were about to see.

58

Sabbagh Karl, Power into Art (London, Penguin Books Ltd, 2000), p.278 59

Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited, 2000), p.156 60

This idea can also be found in the nearby area of Borough, also in Southwark, where the great majority of its old Inns used to have bay windows overlooking the closed courtyards below. 61

Moore, p.146 62

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/building/, [accessed 1st

October 2010] 63

Moore, p.138

39

Moreover, that would be amplified by the fact that, from the outside, the building

does not match the average idea of a contemporary art gallery that is usually

flashy, striking and self-centred. For its decriers this was all wrong from the

beginning, but the case proved it right, since every hint of surprise – often born out

of contradictions – intensifies the experience.

The northern entrance, located to either sides of the chimney, would move

towards the same direction. This entrance would be accessible from the river walk.

Just to the front of it, the visitors would find a plaza, and, if kept moving inwards,

past the doors, they would find themselves on a big platform, cross cutting the

Turbine Hall and hanging above it. What would be more exciting is that they

should feel as if they had not abandoned their route, since the river walk and

plaza outside lead to and were conceived as a continuation of the platform64. In

addition, this component would serve as a bridge in the future, when, during the

second phase of development, it would link the Boiler House and Galleries to the

Switch House, but also the river promenade of the north to the south gardens and

other areas of Southwark65. But that wouldn‟t be all.

There would be other rigorous moments throughout the building, which, although

minor, would play their role in convincing the visitors that the TGMA is about a

complete experience and self-discovery. Everything that was designed to be

unobtrusive, such as the rough, industrial ventilation grilles on the gallery floors or

the untreated oak floor in the exhibition spaces, contributed to a finely tuned

outcome, so well thought out that almost demands attention and compliment.

Such an example is the main staircase, fitted to the west side of the Boiler House.

The diversity between flights managed to create a unique experience of the

space it runs through. Descending its steps gives the opportunity to check what

happens on each level‟s concourse or „disengage from the stream of visitors‟66 or

even give one‟s body a different pace before moving to the next gallery. A similar

thing applies also to the gallery spaces. These rooms, as simple as possible, display

a variety of attributes, so that each is special in its own rights. Some have very thick

64

Ibid, p.142 65

Ibid 66

Ibid, p. 154

40

walls, others have walls added or removed, and others get different types of light,

while one is double-height, all, nevertheless, securing an uninterrupted experience

of art.

41

Figure 1. Top: View from a Bay Window downwards to the Platform and Turbine Hall Bottom: View from the Platform upwards towards a Bay Window A ‘see and be seen’ game

42

Figure 2. Top: Level 1 Centre: Level 2 (ground) Bottom: Level 3

43

Figure 3. 1. Level 4 2. Level 5 3. Level 6 (Light Beam, bottom level) 4. Level 7 (Light Beam, upper level – bar/restaurant)

44

Figure 4. Top: Cross-section, looking east Bottom: Long section through the turbine hall, with boiler house elevation

45

Figure 5. Competition entry: cross section showing different gallery types

46

Conclusion Beyond the art gallery

According to the Tate Modern‟s competition brief, one of the main termini would

be the connection of two opposing parts of London; the City and Southwark. Due

to Southwark‟s low background, its regeneration would be another requirement.

Such was the importance of the latter, that the London Borough of Southwark

opted to be among the investors. Under this scope, the scheme was conceived as

a public network (fig.1), comprised by cross routes leading to a central plaza,

various shops and gardens, with great sensitivity towards the topography and the

access to it. The pedestrian Millennium Bridge was also part of this extensive plan. It

was the first bridge to be built after at least 100 years.

The north side of the site - where the bridge lands - is the new face of Southwark

towards the riverfront and the capital. The Tate Modern with its Light Beam as a

beacon at the top is the materialisation of this swift. People approaching from the

Millennium Bridge have the chance to be smoothly introduced to this event, since

– after the removal of some of the pre-existing buildings of the area – they have

clear views of the Tate. The landing of the Bridge was the work of the sculptor

Anthony Caro, who managed to blend it harmoniously with the ground and

surroundings by splitting it in two, towards East and West, and then using ramps

and gentle steps to reach the ground. Once on the river promenade, the visitor

takes an almost voluntary turn to face the central plaza of the Bankside Gardens.

To the West there is a complex of birch trees with grass, which functions as a resting

place for the sunny days (fig.2.1). To the East, another group of smaller birches

denotes the transitions to the domestic scale of the adjacent 17th century houses.

Following the course of the plaza, the visitor meets the north entrance, just to the

right and left of the chimney. Through the chimney, the plaza evolves into the

platform, inside the building – on level two – and above the Turbine Hall. After the

completion of the second phase of the Tate‟s transformation, this platform will

become a bridge, directly linking the hinterland of Southwark to the riverfront.

The West Court is a key element to the design. It is a transitional space at the

moment between the open spaces of the north side and the more constrained of

the South Terraces. Thus it also serves as a meeting point (fig.2.2), providing

outdoor seating steps under the birches. The main entrance to this side, quite low,

in relation to what follows, is the reaction to a wide, descending into the ground,

ramp, which concludes smoothly into the Turbine Hall (fig.3). The architects

invented this mechanism to serve two ideas; first, to take advantage of the full

height of the Turbine Hall, in order to load the entering experience with more

tension; and second, to avoid hierarchy in terms of spatial order, a lesson well-

taught by Judd, Beuys and Zaugg. The end of this journey – and the beginning of

another – is the Turbine Hall, a covered arcade and focal point, not of the building

only, but of the whole surrounding community.

After ten years of function, Tate Modern proves to have embodied every ambition

from all parts. It has turned into a cultural hub, changing the introverted stance of

47

Londoners towards Modern Art since the mid-1990. Moreover, it has offered the

architectural community a moment to remember, to monumentalise. H & de M

used many of the Tate‟s solutions to other schemes later on, such as the Ricola

Factory in Laufen, the Cottbus University Library and the de Young Museum. With

the completion of the second phase of the transformation in 2012, the Tate

Modern is going to divulge its full potential as „an urban machine that generates

urban-associated behaviors‟67.

67 Mack Gerhard, Herzog & de Meuron: The Complete Works, vol. 4: 1997-2001 (Basel, Birkhäuser Verlag AG, 2009), p.13

48

Figure 1. Competition entry, site plan

49

Figure 2. 1 (top): Bankside Gardens west side, people relaxing and enjoying the view across the river 2 (bottom): West Courts, stepping slope with benches just outside the café

50

Figure 3. Top: Entering the Turbine Hall through the west entrance Bottom: Leaving from the west side resembles what could be leaving the mouth of a whale

51

(Word Count: 7785)

52

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Allison Peter, „Collaboration in the Turbine Hall: The Tate Gallery of Modern Art by

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55

Audiovisual

Architects Herzog And De Meuron - Alchemy Of Building Tate Modern, DVD

(Microcinema, MC-792, 2001)

Illustrations

Cover

Found in

http://s242.photobucket.com/albums/ff296/grahammcnally/?action=view&curr

ent=dangraham-suburbanhouse.jpg

Retrieved 7th December 2010

Introduction

Figure 1. Found in

http://www.andrewgrahamdixon.com/article_images/nicholas_serota.jpg

Retrieved 15th November 2010

Chapter 1

Figure 1. Found in

Top: Bing Maps 2010 edited by the author,

Bottom: http://www.smff.org/uk/images/map.gif

Retrieved 15th November 2010

Figure 2. Found in

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brighton/5198463493

Retrieved 15th November 2010

56

Figure 3. Retrieved from

Jodidio Philip, New Forms: Architecture in the 1990’s, (Köln & New York, Taschen,

1997), p. 87

Figure 4. Found in

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kxbbl29LiD1qaxdmfo1_500.jpg

Retrieved 15th November 2010

Figure 5. Found in

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Vitra_Design_Museum.JPG

Retrieved 15th November 2010

Figure 6. Found in

http://www.chicagoboyz.net/blogfiles/Getty3.jpg

Retrieved 15th November 2010

Figure 7. Retrieved from

Jodidio Philip, New Forms: Architecture in the 1990’s, (Köln & New York, Taschen,

1997), p. 94

Chapter Two

Figure 1. Found in

http://www.vitra.com/_assets/published/6/f01454ec7e8b70d.jpg

Retrieved 15th November 2010

Figure 2. Found in

http://mediatheque.epfl.ch/albums-actualites2/albun50/Gugger_1.jpg

Retrieved 15th November 2010

Figure 3. Found in

http://www.archiweb.cz/images/subjects/logo_portrait_223.jpg

Retrieved 15th November 2010

57

Figure 4. Found in

Top: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/4124414857_23e9c59105.jpg

Centre: http://postalesinventadas.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html

Bottom: http://architettura.it/allestimenti/20040108/13_c.jpg

Retrieved 15th November 2010

Figure 5. Found in

Top: http://www.drvino.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/dominus005.jpg

Centre: http://speakyourdesign.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/dominus2.jpg

Bottom: http://www.buzz-beast.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Dominus-

Estate-Winery-3.jpg

Retrieved 5th December 2010

Figure 6. Found in

6.1 http://therepublicofless.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/goertz-

munich.jpg?w=490&h=315

Retrieved 5th December 2010

6.2 Author‟s archive (May 2010)

6.3 http://www.sammlung-goetz.de/img.php?lang=en&url=/upload/

arch_museum/i_000006/1.jpg

Retrieved 5th December 2010

6.4 Author‟s archive (May 2010)

6.5 http://kubuildingtech.org/cooltour/gallery/goetz/source/26.html (ed. by the

author)

Retrieved 5th December 2010

6.6 Author‟s archive (May 2010)

6.7 http://www.mimoa.eu/images/5476_l.jpg (ed. by the author)

Retrieved 5th December 2010

6.8 http://budapestdailyreview.com/dailyphotos/wp-

content/uploads/2009/02/tate-modern-cafe.jpg

Retrieved 5th December 2010

58

Chapter Three

Figure 1. Found in

Top: http://mattmancini.files.wordpress.com/2010/05/71.jpg (ed. by the author)

Bottom:

http://www.toddeberle.com/Architecture%20Images/Architecture_02.jpg (ed.

by the author)

Retrieved 5th December 2010

Figure 2. Found in

Top: http://www.culture24.org.uk/asset_arena/9/92/15299/v0_master.jpg

Centre: Spiluttini, Margherita, Herzog & de Meuron: Plywood House, Bottmingen

(1989) in Herzog, Jacques, and Pierre de Meuron, Natural History, ed. by Philip

Ursprung (Baden, Lars Müller Publishers, 2005), p.283

Bottom: http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l81d7xf6u51qat99uo1_400.jpg (ed.

by the author)

Retrieved 7th December 2010

Figure 3. Found in

Top left: Spiluttini, Margherita, Herzog & de Meuron: Atelier Rémy Zaugg (1996)

(6440/B) in

http://www.spiluttini.com/image.php?media_id=48720

Retrieved 7th December 2010

Top right: Tate Photography, Leith, Marcus, and Andrew Dunkley Donald Judd,

Installation, View at Tate Modern, Level 4 East, in

http://www.artlies.org/article.php?id=135&issue=42&s=1 (ed. by the author)

Retrieved 7th December 2010

Centre: Author‟s archive (October 2010)

Bottom left: Author‟s archive (October 2010)

Bottom right: Author‟s archive (October 2010)

Figure 4. Found in

Spiluttini, Margherita, Herzog & de Meuron: Atelier Rémy Zaugg (1996) (6437/A) in

http://www.spiluttini.com/image.php?media_id=48723

Retrieved 7th December 2010

59

Chapter Four

Figure 1. Found in

Top: Author‟s archive (May 2010)

Bottom: Author‟s archive (May 2010)

Figure 2. Retrieved from

Top: Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de

Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited,

2000), p.167

Centre: Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de

Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited,

2000), p. 168

Bottom: Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de

Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited,

2000), p.169

Figure 3. Retrieved from

3.1 Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de

Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited,

2000), p.170

3.2 Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de

Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited,

2000), p.171

3.3 Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de

Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited,

2000), p.172

3.4 Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de

Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited,

2000), p.173

Figure 4. Retrieved from

Top: Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de

Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited,

2000), p.174

60

Bottom: Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de

Meuron transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited,

2000), p.175

Figure 5. Retrieved from

Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de Meuron

transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited, 2000),

p.164

Conclusion

Figure 1. Retrieved from

Moore Rowan, and Raymund Ryan, Building Tate Modern: Herzog & de Meuron

transforming Giles Gilbert Scott (London, Tate Gallery Publishing Limited, 2000),

p.144

Figure 2. Found in

Top: Author‟s archive (May 2010)

Bottom: Author‟s archive (May 2010)

Figure 3. Found in

Top: Author‟s archive (May 2010)

Bottom: Author‟s archive (May 2010)