V&A Dundee
| V&A Dundee | |
|
Angus | |
|---|---|
 V&A Dundee and RRS Discovery | |
| Type: | Museum |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | Expression error: Unexpected < operator.&y=Expression error: Unexpected < operator.&z=120 NO404902990 |
| Location: | 56°27’27"N, 2°58’2"W |
| Town: | Dundee |
| History | |
| Address: | 1 Riverside Esplanade |
| Built 2018 | |
| By: | Kengo Kuma |
| Museum | |
| Information | |
| Owned by: | Design Dundee Ltd. |
| Website: | vam.ac.uk/dundee |
V&A Dundee is a design museum standing on the bank of the River Tay in Dundee, Angus. It is built in a startling modernist style, by the Japanese architect by Kengo Kuma. It is the first building he has designed in the United Kingdom.
The museum opened on 15 September 2018.[1][2]
The V&A Dundee is the first new branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the original being long established in London.
Contents
History
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The plan for a V&A museum in Dundee originated at the University of Dundee in 2007 when Professor Georgina Follett (then Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design) suggested to bring the V&A to Dundee to University of Dundee Principal Sir Alan Langlands. Subsequently, Joan Concannon, the university's director of external relations, made a 20-minute pitch to Sir Mark Jones, then director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, in which the case for Dundee was made including its potential as an anchor for the urban regeneration of the waterfront. A design competition took place in 2010 to decide what the museum would look like. The Japanese architect Kengo Kuma won the competition, explaining that his design was inspired by the eastern cliff edges of Scotland.[3]
Construction
BAM Construction carried out the construction work beginning in April 2014. The original completion date was 2017 but was delayed to 2018. During construction a cofferdam was installed to allow the outer wing expand on to the River Tay and 780 tons of pre-cast, grey, concrete slabs were added to the outside of the building.[4] It cost £80.1 million to complete.[5]
Opening
The V&A Dundee opened to the public on 15 September 2018 with international and national press previews taken place beforehand from 13–14 September 2018. The opening was celebrated with a 3D Festival which featured acts such as Primal Scream, Be Charlotte and Lewis Capaldi and had featured a light show and a firework display. The opening highlights were broadcast on BBC Two Scotland in a programme hosted by Edith Bowman. The museum set itself the target of attracting 500,000 visitors within a year of its opening; it attracted 27,201 visitors during its first week, 100,000 in its first three weeks.[6][7]
The museum was officially opened by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge in a private official opening which was held on 28 January 2019.[8]
Features
Exhibition galleries
The exhibition galleries are where the temporary exhibitions are placed.
| Exhibition | Dates |
|---|---|
| Ocean Liners: Speed and Style | 15 September 2018 – 24 February 2019 |
| Video Games: Design/Play/Disrupt | 20 April 2019 – 8 September 2019 |
| Hello, Robot: Design Between Human and Machine | 2 November 2019 – 23 February 2020 |
Scottish Design Galleries
The Scottish Design Galleries feature permanent design works from across Scotland.
The Oak Room
Charles Rennie Mackintosh's Oak Room was originally completed in 1908 after being commissioned by Catherine Cranston for use as a tearoom on Ingram Street in Glasgow. It is a doubl;e-height room, 44 feet long and now forms a part of the permanent Scottish Design Gallery at the museum. The Oak Room was restored from over 700 original parts that were stored by Glasgow City Council for over 50 years. The room took 16 months to install and the total cost of the restoration and conservation was £1.3 million (2018).[9]
See also
Outside links
References
- ↑ 'V&A Dundee review – a flawed treasure house on the Tay': Rowan Moore in The Guardian 15 September 2018
- ↑ 'World record smashed as V&A Dundee and 3D Festival draw the crowds on museum's opening weekend': Stefan Morkis in The Courier, 15 September 2018
- ↑ 'Dundee and the University : Stories' (University of Dundee)
- ↑ 'V&A Dundee - BAM Case Study': BAM Group
- ↑ 'Dundee's V&A opens its doors to the public': BBC News, 15 September 2018
- ↑ 'V&A Dundee welcomes 27,000 in first week': BBC News 23 September 2018
- ↑ 'V&A Dundee attracts 100,000 visitors in the space of three weeks': The Scotsman
- ↑ William and Kate officially open V&A Dundee: BBC News, 29 January 2019
- ↑ The Oak Room: V&A Dundee
