The Switch House – Tate Modern

I popped along to the new Tate Modern extension by Herzog & de Meuron last week, to have a look how the gallery works, and measures up to new spaces such as the LV Foundation in Paris and the Whitney Museum in NYC.

In keeping with the industrial aesthetic of the existing space, the new extensions sits atop of “The Tanks” which originally contained oil for the working power station.   Now these Tanks serve as a permanent gallery for live exhibition, film and installations, the first globally, of it’s kind.

I’ll let the  pictures speak for themselves, but the dramatic angles, exciting use of brick on the façade create wonderful interior spaces of a variety of sizes.  The flow through the building is easy, unlike the LV Foundation, and the diversity of spaces in the building made exploring it very interesting, unlike the Whitney’s stark yet utilitarian spaces.