This movement away from the concrete flooring of most contemporary art galleries suggests a warm and intimate domestic space. Glass windows, 5m high, face east and south, bathing the space in natural light.Ī surprise twist is present in the choice of the flooring material: intense dark- rown wooden boards are used throughout the space and on the staircase which leads to the viewing rooms on the 400m2 lower level, and to the library and study on the upper level. Here the collection is on view in a generous space of 400m2, the main room measuring 8 x 28m with a 6m-high ceiling. The overall presence of the extension is therefore assertive but not intimidating, rigorous and yet also imaginative, sculptural and at the same time functional.Ī dramatic staircase numbering 72 steps – stretched on a continuous line and sandwiched between gigantic walls – leads to the top floor. The subtle wave of the façade and the slight protrusion of the bronze canopy intensify this sculptural effect, softening what would otherwise have been a plain and rigid box. The materials and features of the design have been specially chosen with this in mind: the external white rendering gives a sense of lightness and abstraction, in contrast to the earthy weight of the existing building. Love art? Check out the best London art galleries.The Victoria Miro Private Collection Space is housed in a new building that has been erected on the roof of a Victorian brick warehouse in Islington.Īs intended, the new 800m2 extension is a significant urban gesture, expressing its art content through a sculptural architectonic configuration that complements both the requirements for viewing the collection and the Victoria Miro Gallery | 16 Wharf Road, London N1 7RW You can see what’s currently on display, and find out more, HERE. NOTE: The Victoria Miro Gallery is open Tuesday – Saturday when exhibitions are on. It’s about as close to Venice as you’ll get while still being within walking distance of a McDonald’s drive-through. Once you’re done perusing the ever-changing exhibitions, get out into that garden – known as the Waterside Garden – to read a book, chat about art and generally look super-cultured by an inner-city pond (actually a finely manicured section of the Wenlock Basin canal). The gallery as a whole provides plenty of reasons to return – the rotating exhibitions come from Miro’s collection of 40-or-so contemporary artists, the best-known including Grayson Perry and Yayoi Kusama (whose infinity rooms appeared here a few years back, and have now sold out at the Tate).
Clamber up the many stairs – the lift is a knee-and-calf saver – to a stretching room with dark-wood floors and a window-wall at the far end. Reach the third by going straight through the main exhibition hall and out into the garden (more on which later) to enter an adjoining building. The exposed-wood beams and gabled roof are a show-stealer. The second is immediately left and up a time-warped staircase that leads to a loft.
The first lies straight ahead, a sugar cube box with tall ceilings and not a lot else (except some of the finest contemporary art in the country, of course). Once inside, you’ve a choice of three exhibition spaces. Yayoi Kusama’s Chandelier of Grief – image credit Bex Walton/Flickr
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