By Richard Fitzwilliams
The Switch House Tate Modern
The noted actor and director Orson Welles once quipped that, in his career,“ I started at the top and worked my way down”. This is by far the best way to explore The Switch House, the new extension to Tate Modern, which has a uniquely stunning panoramic viewing platform on its top floor from which to see London. This has probably been inspired by its equivalent in the Pompidou Centre in Paris and it alone makes a visit worthwhile.
Below are the Artist Rooms, galleries which will be occupied by a leading artist for a year, starting with Louise Bourgeois and including her famous Spider. However this sculpture should stand alone and its impact is lessened by its display here. Opposite them is the Living Cities Gallery, which gives insights into aspects of city life and which contains works which illustrate the urban experience including Ghardaia in Algeria by Kader Attia, an intriguing cityscape which is made out of couscous.
Other galleries house exhibits linked to performance and examine the relationship between art and architecture. There are examples of film and video art in most galleries. The Switch House is connected by a walkway to the main building where the major new exhibitions are housed, those in the extension are restricted to art produced in the last 50 years. However if your visit begins on the ground floor, unprepared for the concrete maze which greets you, it can be extremely confusing. The subterranean area known as The Tanks contains works with labels placed too far from the exhibits and music and sounds which are disconcerting though new works which represent live art will be replacing them in the months ahead.
The Switch House was constructed by Herzog & de Meuron at a cost of £ 260 million. These architects converted the original Boiler House from Bankside Power Station into Tate Modern where exhibits in the famous Turbine Hall, now including Ai Wei Wei’ s imposing Tree, have achieved enormous popularity. The exterior of the extension curves upwards and from certain angles it resembles a ziggurat or oriental fortress. These external influences on its construction makes it symbolic of the international nature of the Gallery’ s increasingly diverse permanent collection. This now comprises 800 works from over 300 artists in over 50 countries.
Tate Modern is the world’ s most visited contemporary art gallery and The Switch House is an invaluable enlargement of its space allowing it to greatly increase the numbers of works on show and display new installations. Overall, a visit is a fascinatingly varied experience and architecturally its exterior is a triumph.
Switch House, Tate Modern © Iwan Baan
30 THE LONDON & UK DATEBOOK