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The V&A and RIBA will open a new Architecture Gallery at the
V&A in November 2004, the UK’s first permanent architecture
gallery. The gallery will feature highlights from their
world-class collections of drawings, models, photographs and
architectural fragments as well as important loans. The
gallery has been designed as an introduction to architecture
for students and the general visitor and will display 180
exhibits from across the ages featuring some of the world’s
most famous architects and buildings. Highlights include a
capital from the Pantheon, drawings by Palladio, Vanburgh, Le
Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe and a fly-through of Zaha
Hadid’s Phaeno Science Centre in Germany due for completion in
2005.
 In
November, the V&A and RIBA will also open a new Study Room in
the Henry Cole wing of the V&A to the public. These extensive
facilities will house more than 1 million drawings and
manuscripts from the RIBA’s Drawings and Manuscripts
Collections as well as the V&A’s collections of architectural
drawings, photographs and archives. This will form the world’s
most comprehensive architectural resource for architects,
specialists and general audiences. It will represent every
major British architect from the late 16th century to the
present day and contain the national collection on British
architecture.
The total cost of the new gallery, study room and archives is
£10 million with supporting outreach, education and
conservation work. The start of the project has been made
possible by the Architecture for All fundraising campaign
including a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund of £3.27
million and an anonymous donation of £1.8 million.
NEW GALLERY AND HIGHLIGHTS
The new gallery, located near the main entrance of the V&A,
designed by Gareth Hoskin Architects, will offer a concise
guide to architecture from different periods and across the
world. It will include three thematic displays: The Art of
Architecture, looking at architectural styles; The Function of
Buildings; and Architects and Architecture, exploring the
design process. There will be educational areas and a space
for temporary displays, changing three times a year. As
visitors enter the gallery, the first exhibit they see will be
a gigantic isometric drawing of St. Paul’s Cathedral which
will be on display for the first time at the V&A.
The Art of Architecture
The first section of the gallery looks at the development and
principles of architectural style and how different styles
have different meanings. It will feature a series of columns
from different periods, dividing the space into bays. It will
display corresponding artefacts and drawings illustrating
styles such as the Classical and neo-classical, Gothic and
Gothic revival, non-Western architecture and Modernism.
Highlights of this section include a capital from the Pantheon
(2nd century AD), a section of Corinthian architrave (AD150)
from the largest Roman theatre in North Africa (at Oxyrhyncus
or El Bahnasa, Egypt) and a 19th century jewelled and lapus
lazuli miniature set of columns demonstrating the five Orders.
Gothic and Gothic revival styles will be juxtaposed.
Highlights include a huge 19th century plaster cast of a 13th
century boss from Westminster Abbey and a magnificent 19th
century model of the Palace of Westminster.
Superb examples of non-western architecture will include
models of the Alhambra in Granada and the exquisite Japanese
Gate at Nikko dating from the mid 19th century. One of the
most valuable treasures is a display of 12th century North
African Koranic friezes, each a metre long. From the Modernist
period, exhibits include a design model for the De La Warr
Pavilion and a 1930s Gropius door handle. Contemporary models
will include buildings by Nigel Coates, Richard Rogers and
Nicholas Grimshaw.
The Function of Buildings
The second section will explore different types of buildings,
from schools and houses to shopping centres and mosques,
looking at how function influences design. The exhibits will
be displayed on a series of tables along the centre of the
gallery.
Among the models of houses on display will be a 1930s suburban
London house, a traditional Japanese house and Le Corbusier’s
Villa Stein.
A rare 18th century ivory model of Fort William in Calcutta
will be a highlight of the area illustrating workplaces as
well as a model for a 1960s purpose-built school in Bradford.
 The
contrasting models of public buildings will include a South
Indian mosque, the 1930s Gatwick ‘beehive’ terminal, and a
specially commissioned model of the Bluewater shopping centre
in Kent. Also on display will be a model of the Sea and Ships
Pavilion for the 1951 Festival of Britain with miniature
artworks by the artists themselves. The RIBA Award-winning
BedZED, a sustainable housing development in Surrey, will also
feature.
Architects and Architecture
The final section will explore the design process from first
conception through to development, presentation and
instructions to builders.
This section will include some of the most important drawings
from the collections including works by Palladio (Villa Pisani,
1539-40), Vanburgh (early sketch for Castle Howard, 1695),
Frank Lloyd Wright (All-steel house, 1937), Mies van der Rohe
(Library for the IIT, Chicago) and Norman Foster (GLA
Building).
This section will look at different ways of building from
timber frame to models of spanned roofs such as the 1850s
British Museum Reading Room and a biome from the Eden Project.
Models on display will include roof shapes for the Sydney
Opera House (late 1950s), and a virtual fly-through of Zaha
Hadid’s Phaeno Science Centre in Wolfsburg, Germany.
The final part of this section, Buildings in Context, will use
the oldest model in the gallery, of St. Martin’s-in-the-Fields
(1721-6), to look at the changing urban context surrounding
one of London’s best-known churches. It will explore how James
Gibbs’ design was influenced by and influenced its
surroundings and the development of Trafalgar Square to the
present day.
Temporary exhibition space
In addition to the permanent gallery will be a small temporary
exhibition space. The first display will be devoted to Great
Buildings and will focus on drawings, photographs and
manuscripts from the RIBA and V&A Collections.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Admission to the V&A is FREE.
Admission to the Architecture Gallery and Study Rooms is
FREE.
For PUBLIC enquiries - 020 7942 2000.
www.vam.ac.uk; www.architecture.com
High quality downloadable images are available free for
press use on www.imagenet.co.uk (under 'Arts' and 'V&A') or
call direct on 020 7841 0550.
The V&A is open Monday to Sunday 10.00 – 17.45 and every
Wednesday and the last Friday of the month until 22.00
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND/OR IMAGES PLEASE CONTACT MARIE
CLEMENTS IN THE RIBA PRESS OFFICE – 020 7307 3761;
marie.clements@inst.riba.org.
V&A Publications, in association with the RIBA, will be
publishing a book to accompany the opening of the new
Architecture Gallery: Exploring Architecture: Buildings,
Meaning and Making by Eleanor Gawne and Michael Snodin (£30.00
HB).
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