250th anniversary of the Royal Academy in London. A renovation by David Chipperfield
16/05/2018.
[LON] UK
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
metalocus, INÉS LALUETA
For two and a half centuries, artists have been coming to the RA Schools to hone their craft, but students arriving today will have a very different experience to their 18th-century predecessors. Run by artists since 1768, they are celebrating the story of 250 years of art teaching is now revealed through a new display in the Vaults, which lie hidden beneath the Main Galleries. Providing a link between our two sites, Burlington House and Burlington Gardens.
New bridge, linking the old buildings. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Simon Menges
The Wohl Entrance Hall. . Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by James Harris
Interior view from bridge. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Simon Menges
The Wohl Entrance Hall. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Simon Menges
The Wohl Entrance Hall. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Simon Menges
The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Simon Menges
The Vaults. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Simon Menges
The Vaults. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by James Harris
The Benjamin West Lecture Theatre. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Simon Menges
RA Collection Gallery. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Rory Mulvey
The Gabrielle Jungels-Winkler Galleries. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Rory Mulvey
RA Collection Gallery. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by James Harris
RA Collection Gallery. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Rory Mulvey
The Vaults. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by James Harris
The Vaults. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by James Harris
The Wohl Entrance Hall. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by James Harris
The Dorfman Senate Rooms landing. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by James Harris
The Wohl Entrance Hall. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by James Harris
The Wohl Entrance Hall. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Rory Mulvey
The Wohl Entrance Hall. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield. Photograph by Simon Menges
Site plan. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield.
Overview. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield.
Section. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield.
Section. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield.
Overview. Royal Academy of Arts by David Chipperfield.
Visitors to “the new RA” will discover a hidden world behind the staircase of Burlington House when David Chipperfield’s project to unite the Piccadilly courtyard and galleries with Burlington Gardens opens this Saturday.
Key to the project is a basement corridor behind the grand staircase and a new raw concrete bridge that cleverly bisects the RA Schools of art, allowing the public glimpses into the student world either side.
At the Mayfair end of the RA’s now two-acre site, the palatial Victoriana of lofty Burlington Gardens wing has been opened up and restored to a cool grey-white. A new temporary gallery has been inserted as well as the double-height Collection Gallery that displays the RA’s historic collection, beginning with a vast, homoerotic Sir Thomas Lawrence canvas of a naked Satan summoning his legions.
It’ll all be unveiled on 19 May, when they’ll be throwing an Art Party all weekend.
Key to the project is a basement corridor behind the grand staircase and a new raw concrete bridge that cleverly bisects the RA Schools of art, allowing the public glimpses into the student world either side.
At the Mayfair end of the RA’s now two-acre site, the palatial Victoriana of lofty Burlington Gardens wing has been opened up and restored to a cool grey-white. A new temporary gallery has been inserted as well as the double-height Collection Gallery that displays the RA’s historic collection, beginning with a vast, homoerotic Sir Thomas Lawrence canvas of a naked Satan summoning his legions.
It’ll all be unveiled on 19 May, when they’ll be throwing an Art Party all weekend.
Description of project by David Chipperfield
Founded in 1768, the Royal Academy of Arts is unique in being led by artists and architects whose purpose is to promote the creation, enjoyment and appreciation of the visual arts through exhibitions, education and debate. The Royal Academy’s art school (RA Schools) is the oldest in Britain and is regarded throughout the world as a centre of Piccadilly, in central London. The acquisition of 6 Burlington Gardens, originally designed as the Senate House for the University of London in the 1860s, enables the Royal Academy to extend and expand its facilities directly to the north of Burlington House.
The project started with a masterplan for the two-acre site that promoted a development with a light touch and the refurbishment of the two Grade II* listed buildings. This approach draws on the existing building structures and ensures that interventions are kept to a minimum and remain sympathetic to, and in some cases enhance, the historic fabric.
A central public link will connect the two buildings, allowing the Royal Academy to extend its programme into 6 Burlington Gardens and providing better visitor and technical facilities in Burlington House. The public link will also reveal the workings of the institution. The transformation of 6 Burlington Gardens includes the contemporary reinstatement of an over 250-seat auditorium, the restoration of a series of listed rooms to accommodate a third run of galleries, and additional retail and catering facilities. The RA Schools will be partly reconfigured and extended, improving the facilities available to students and making visible the their integral role in the institution.
The completion of the project coincides with the 250th anniversary of the Royal Academy in 2018.
More information
Architects
David Chipperfield Architects
Collaborators
Acoustics.- Sound Space Vision. Building service engineers and specialist services.- Arup. Collection display design studio.- Adrien Gardère. Collection display graphics.- LucienneRoberts+. Collection display installation.- Momart. Collection gallery fit out.- MER Services. Collection large paintings conservation.- Bush & Berry Conservation Studio. Collection sculpture conservation.- Taylor Pearce Restoration Services. Conservation architects.- Julian Harrap Architects. Cost management.- Gardiner and Theobold. Display cases.- Goppion. Landscaping: Wirtz International Landscape Architects. Leather design.- Bill Amberg Studio. Project management.- Buro Four. Structural engineer.- Alan Baxter.
Contractor
John Sisk & Son
Cost
£56 million - €64 million
Area
25,000 m²
Dates
2008–2018
David Chipperfield
David Chipperfield was born in London in 1953 and studied architecture at the Kingston School of Art and the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London before working at the practices of Douglas Stephen, Richard Rogers and Norman Foster.
In 1985 he founded David Chipperfield Architects, which today has over 300 staff at its offices in London, Berlin, Milan and Shanghai.
David Chipperfield has taught and held conferences in Europe and the United States and has received honorary degrees from the universities of Kingston and Kent.
He is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) and an honorary fellow of both the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Bund Deutscher Architekten (BDA). In 2009 he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and in 2010 he received a knighthood for services to architecture in the UK and Germany. In 2011 he received the RIBA Royal Gold Medal for Architecture and in 2013 the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association, while in 2021 he was appointed a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour in recognition of a lifetime’s work.
In 2012 he curated the 13th International Architecture Exhibition of the Venice Biennale.
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