The Tate Modern 2

When the Tate Modern opened in 2000, visitor numbers were expected to be 1.8 million a year at tops. Almost a decade on, the figure is 4.6 million. Even though Tate Modern's home, the former Bankside power station, is a huge, the sheer number of people visiting throughout the year has made an expansion the obvious evolution.

Today, the London Borough of Southwark approved plans for Tate Modern 2, an 11-storey, brick-clad pyramid – of sorts – designed by Herzog and de Meuron, the Swiss architects who transformed the redundant power station across the Thames from Wren's St Paul's Cathedral nearly a decade ago.

The extension, a dramatic origami-like unfolding of brick and glass, may yet take some while to open. The total cost is expected to be £215m and, currently, there is a shortfall of some £145m to contend with. Of the £50m granted by central government, £10m has already been spent on the details of the planning process.
TM2 has already been redesigned. First revealed in 2006, the original design was for a Mad Max-style glass ziggurat. Thought of as a bit too showy, this has since been adjusted to a current design which, clad in brick, pays homage of sorts to the great brick mass of Bankside. A redesign was also necessary to enable the Tate to make use of the three vast oil tanks lurking under the building; these massive spaces are to be used for performances, galleries and offices. They will be some of the most unexpected interiors in London, reached by ramps winding down from an entrance in the side of the Turbine Hall in TM1. Nicholas Serota, director of the Tate, suggests a completion date of 2013 or 2014

The new building will rise in tiers, some solid, others perforated, up 11 floors of galleries, culminating in a 150-seat restaurant on the 10th floor and a public viewing gallery on the 11th. As with a ziggurat, the floors get smaller as the building goes up. In stark contrast to the voluminous horizontal spread of TM1, it is a vertical stack. Ramps, spiral stairs and eight lifts will link the various floors and levels. The column-free gallery space inside will increase Tate Modern's ability to display artworks by some 65%.

TM2 will be a hugely popular attraction without doubt. If the design is well crafted and as dramatic as it could be, it will prove itself a happily eccentric addition to the London skyline. And to have a tower dedicated to art and creative expression rather than another construction reminding us of our fickle financial service industry will definitely be a breath of fresh air.

Source: The Gaurdian