01 Nov 2016
First gallery completed at Kengo Kuma's V&A Museum of Design Dundee
BY Kim Megson
A major milestone in the construction of Kengo Kuma’s V&A Museum of Design Dundee in Scotland has been reached, with the completion of the upper floor revealing an extensive public area which will house galleries, learning spaces and a restaurant.
At the ground floor level V&A Dundee will be formed of two separate buildings located on Dundee’s waterfront. The newly-completed second floor connects these two together, and houses many of the museum’s central leisure amenities.
At the heart of the newly-completed space is the Michelin Design Gallery. This will host touring exhibitions and showcase work completed by families, schools and community groups as part of V&A Dundee’s learning programmes to inspire and promote contemporary talent and encourage design innovation. The gallery will carry the name of tyre manufacturer Michelin – which is a high-profile employer in the city – for 25 years.
Philip Long, director of V&A Dundee, said the gallery “will be a very inspiring space for community participants of all ages to see what they design showcased within an international museum.”
A Michelin mentoring programme will also be put in place through the partnership with V&A Dundee. This will offer Michelin staff the opportunity to be directly involved with the museum and its learning programmes, as well as providing a platform to share their own knowledge and skills.
Last month it was announced that the museum’s flagship ground floor Scottish Design Galleries – telling the story of the country's design achievements over the last 300 years – will be designed by international design studio ZMMA.
V&A Museum of Design Dundee is expected to be opened in 2018.
Later this year, the building’s curving concrete walls will reach their full height. They will be cast in bespoke moulds, which are then removed to allow 2,250 cast stone panels to be hung to them. This will create the appearance of a cliff face; a reference by Kuma to the coastline of north eastern Scotland. Each panel weighs up to 3000kg each and spans up to 4m.
Kuma recently discussed his design inspiration and hopes for the museum in an exclusive interview with CLAD.
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