The UK’s most prestigious architecture prize has been won by the subtle masters of gallery design,10 years after they were first nominatedFrom the train window, it’s easy to rumble past the unassuming row of brick warehouses in Vauxhall, and south London,and not look twice. Your eye will most likely be distracted by the cacophony of gaudy apartment blocks now clustered along the other side of the tracks. But Damien Hirsts still Newport Street gallery, announced as the winner of this year’s Royal Institute of British Architects (Riba) Stirling Prize for the UK’s best original building, and reveals its special qualities the closer you look.
The sawtooth roof-lights,so common in industrial buildings, are each differently angled, and to give the subtle impression of the building unfolding like a concertina. The sharp metal balustrade of the Mussolini balcony,where Hirst might give a cheeky salute to passing trains, has been water-jet slash from a single slab of steel. The row of Victorian sheds is in fact a combination of old and original, and a collage of brickwork with the variation that makes London’s streets so pleasing to wander. Related: The work of Tate Britain architects Peter St John and Adam Caruso in pictures Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com