|
|
|
| Current Issue |
|
|
| Resources |
|
|
|
London's New Art Museums
| Article
# : |
20384 |
|
|
Section : |
THE ARTS
|
| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1992 |
1,725 Words |
| Author
: |
Kenneth Powell
Kenneth Powell is an architecture writer for the London Daily
Telegraph. |
The international boom during the 1970s and '80s in new museum building and in the extension and aggrandizement of existing institutions was driven not simply by a demand for more display space, but by a growing tendency to redefine the entire role of the museum. Modern museums consist not simply of galleries but also shops, restaurants, lounges, and gardens. Libraries have expanded to embrace the new electronic technology, so that visitors can easily access for themselves on a screen information they once would have gotten from books. Every section of the population now has to be considered. The disabled and infirm have to be able to reach all parts of a new building. Children are targeted for special attention--indeed, education, in the widest sense, is now a central function of museums. There are concerts and conferences, lectures and films, symposia and social events for "friends groups. And the architecture is not just a contained- it's a vital part of the total experience.
Rogers and Piano's Pompidou Centre in Paris (opened in 1977) was undoubtedly a landmark in the museum revolution. It has long been the most popular tourist attraction in France. Since then, Pei's East Wing at the National Gallery in Washington, D.C., and the same architect's radical recasting of the Louvre0 in Paris, James Stirling's much-lauded Staatsgalerie in Stuttgart, Richard Meier's High Museum In Atlanta, Frank Gehry's "Temporary Contemporary" in Los Angeles, and a string of a new museums by Japanese masters like Isozaki and Maki have symbolized the explosion of activity in the field. (All these, incidentally, are art museums. It is in this area that the boom has been most noticeable).
Finance has, of course, been a key issue. London has some of the most spectacular museums in the world, but Britain lacks the tradition of private munificence that has long been typical of the United States. In recent years, public spending in Britain has come under close scrutiny, so that the state can no longer be automatically relied upon to fund cultural enterprises. One of the major national museums, the Victoria & Albert, had to resort to erecting a row of temporary billboards in front of its main façade in order to fund a cleaning and repair operation. (Many were critical of the expedient, but the work has now been successfully completed and the billboards are gone. The "V&A", however, remains in need of major expenditure on its sprawling South Kensington premises.)
The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square came into existence no through state or royal patronage (Like the Louvre, Prado, and Uffizi), but through the generosity of
...
Read Full Article
Look for this article in Ask.com
|
|
