Precedents

Contemporary arts spaces, in the western world, tend to follow three broad architectural models  / strategies.

The most common contemporary arts space (found in most urban centres) is a purpose built and designed building that follows (in general terms) a pared down modernist rationale that seeks to create neutral white cube spaces.  The building’s purpose and functionality primarily serves the displaying and viewing of the art.

In the second and most sensational model, the sculptural design of the building, its architectural expression, is the dominating factor in its conception. This model seeks to encapsulate and express the values of contemporary visual culture; the building acts as a cultural icon. A recent example is Frank Gehry’s Bilbao Museum in Spain. In this model the architect’s vision permeates and sometimes eclipses the art on display.

The third model renovates an existing building, transforming the space into a contemporary arts space. In this model, the emphasis is on creating both neutral spaces within the existing architecture, and allowing room for the displays and artists to interact with the history of the building. The New Tate Museum in London is an excellent example of this model; the main ‘turbine room’ acts as a major project space for site-specific works.

The most significant architectural influence on the Project Space conception is Richard Rogers and Renvo Piano’s Pompidou Centre in Paris, France (1971 –77). Designed with the building’s service infrastructure placed on the outside of the building to free the internal spaces, the building was also initially designed to allow for the manipulation of whole floors.  On the monumental scale of the Pompidou Centre (over 400 000 sqm of floor space – and with trusses spanning entire 100 metre floors) the latter proved to be too difficult to actualise.