DESIGN PROJECT PROFILE Amanda Levete
LIGHT TOUCH
BRINGING DAYLIGHT INTO THE GALLERIES AND MAKING THE VISITOR THE HERO WERE AL_A’S DESIGN AIMS FOR THE V&A EXHIBITION ROAD PROJECT, AS STIRLING PRIZE-WINNING ARCHITECT AMANDA LEVETE EXPLAINS
KATHLEEN WHYMAN • MANAGING EDITOR • ATTRACTIONS MANAGEMENT WHAT IS YOUR DESIGN?
Our design process started by negotiat- ing a relationship between the Victoria &Albert Museum and Exhibition Road that doesn’t currently exist. We’re creating a physical permeability between the two by opening up the Aston Webb Screen [see right]. This was put up in 1909 to mask the original boiler house yard, but after the changes it will no longer serve to hide, but
to reveal. This visual openness will encour- age people to enter, while still retaining the important notion of a threshold between the street and the museum. We’re placing a new courtyard at its
centre – an outdoor room bounded on four sides by architecturally signifi cant façades. It’ll be a place to go for a coffee or a drink after work, a space for installations and events, but above all a space for the public.
The descent to the gallery below is cel-
ebrated as an important part of the visitor’s journey and is woven into the historic fabric of the museum. We’ve designed it with a focus on the theatre of the journey and the interplay between old and new. Visitors will be drawn down by natural light, which less- ens until they reach the bottom, where a dramatic pool of daylight appears – seem- ingly magically – so far underground.
ABOUT AL_A
A dramatic pool of daylight appears almost magically through the ceiling
26 Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
AL_A is the international design and architecture studio of Stirling Prize- winning architect Amanda Levete, a former partner of Future Systems, and directors Ho-Yin Ng, Maximiliano Arrocet, Bruce Davison and Alice Dietsch. Founded in 2009, AL_A’s portfolio includes: a 145,000sq m luxury retail outlet and six-star hotel in Bangkok; a cultural centre in Lisbon commissioned by EDP; a residential tower on the City fringe for developer LondoNewcastle; and a project with Anish Kapoor for the Naples Subway.
AM 3 2012 ©cybertrek 2012
PIC: ©PETER GUENZEL
PIC: ©AL_A
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