Tate Extension: Uncompromisingly Modern Or A Bit Wank?

M@
By M@ Last edited 212 months ago
Tate Extension: Uncompromisingly Modern Or A Bit Wank?
Tate_extension.jpg

OK, so most of you will have already seen the plans for the extension to the Tate Modern. They’ve been all over the press since lunchtime. To quickly summarise via the lazy, but strangely satisfying medium of bulletpoints:

• Glass ziggurat-type extension to be built south of the Tate.

• 11 floors and 23 000 sq metres of new space.

• Open in time for the Olympics.

• Costs £215 million.

• Designed by architects Herzog and De Meuron, the architects behind the original conversion.

Inevitably, some will hate it, some will love it. Whatever, reactions and comparisons are legion. Here are just a few (the first four are from Londonist contributors):

• Holy crap! That thing looks...dangerous. In a thrillingly sexy way.

• Woah - looks like a transformer - freaky.

• Looks like a collapsed Channel 4 logo.

• You're all wrong - it looks like a load of Tetris blocks!

• Like a sack full of cats. (Rowan Moore, Evening Standard)

• Nice design, looks like a bunch of portacabins. (Medo, skyscrapercity.com)

• Like a game of Jenga with glass blocks. (Dan1987, skyscrapercity.com)

So, how would you describe it? And most importantly, what are we going to call it?

Last Updated 25 July 2006