SANAA Designs Art Gallery of New South Wales Expansion in Sydney

Tokyo-based SANAA has designed a new addition to the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) in Sydney. As the firm's first building in Australia, the project will transform the flagship art museum and connect through an outdoor public art garden overlooking Sydney Harbor. The new building is designed to contrast the Gallery’s 19th-century neo-classical building as a light, transparent and open addition.

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Courtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2018

Dubbed the Sydney Modern Project, the $344 million (AUD) transformation includes the development of SANAA's new standalone building. The project aims to give prominence to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art, as well as revitalizing the Gallery’s existing building. Doubling AGNSW’s total exhibition space, SANAA’s building responds to the site’s topography with a series of pavilions that cascade down towards Woolloomooloo Bay.

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Courtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2018

The building will feature galleries specifically designed to accommodate art of the 21st century. Works by Indigenous artists will be part of the entry in a dedicated gallery, and the project is made to celebrate both Australia’s heritage and its emerging contemporary culture. The new building will also include a large underground art space repurposed from a decommissioned WWII naval oil tank to display large-scale contemporary works.

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Courtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2018

Kazuyo Sejima, co-founder of SANAA, said, “It has been a wonderful honor to design such an important public building in Sydney with Michael Brand and his team. We hope the Sydney Modern Project will be a special place for visitors to experience the shared joy of art and ideas in this unique and beautiful setting. This is our first building in Australia, and we are delighted it is being realized.”

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Courtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2018

Sydney Modern Project is being delivered by Infrastructure NSW on behalf of the Gallery and the NSW Government, while Richard Crookes Constructions is the building contractor. Construction is currently underway and scheduled for completion in late 2022.

News via Art Gallery of New South Wales

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Cite: Eric Baldwin. "SANAA Designs Art Gallery of New South Wales Expansion in Sydney" 14 Oct 2020. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/949446/sanaa-designs-art-gallery-of-new-south-wales-expansion-in-sydney> ISSN 0719-8884

Courtesy of Art Gallery of New South Wales, 2018

SANAA ‘新南威尔士美术馆’扩建方案,顺应地形的透明展亭

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