Looking after the Millenium Wing.
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I understand that it isn’t totally the fault of the NGI; the Millenium Wing is extremely unforgiving and they are probably saving up to build the extra “finger building” they need to provide roof access, but isn’t the state of the Millenium Wing of the National Gallery terrible.
First off there are straight forward maintence issues, the push bar on the inner door on the way in has been bent for ages, the paint is gone on a few of the doors and the door to the Irish art gallery sticks, lots of it looks dirty and scuffed, the toilets are full of graffetti and the mirror between the two toilets is cracked. Then there are managements issues; they haven’t worked out the circulation for the pay in gallery, its confused and involves lots of intrusive signs, the Irish gallery has wires up to keep you away from the pictures, they are ad hoc and ugly and block access to the funny seat and the walkway behind the hanging walls, the shop is a mess, the building smells of food and the stairs are clearly dangerous. Finally, there are design issues, there is a creep of incongruous elements into the wing, the donation box, some signage and the perspex panels at the top of the stairs.
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This is what’s being holding it back all this time isn’t it – a lack of funds for what is a fairly substantial capital project.
That’s a pity about the interior notjim – haven’t been in the gallery proper for a while now, but yes the scruffy front door is acceptably poor. This has been like this almost since day one. If it needs contant maintenance then so be it; first impressions mean everything.
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On a related note –
At the beginning, the whole place seemed like a wow, but something that strikes me going back there now a few years later is that they maybe overdid it with the slits ‘n shapes in the wall. They’re everywhere, like a plague breaking out, every door you open, everywhere you turn … Should have held back a bit maybe. -
I had similar thoughts the first time I visited B&F’s Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. Much was made in both projects of the number of drawings produced during the design stage (20,000 for MoS?), but they both struck me from the outset as being too busy- as I said at the time (not here, so you’ll have to trust me ;)), there was too much architecture in the buildings, and everything was so over-designed that there was no room left for happy accidents, little discoveries, glimpsed views, not to mention the competition between each building and its contents for the viewers’ attention.
And, on topic, the more fiddly bits there are in a building, the more things there are that can go wrong, as the NGI wing has shown.
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I was just at the Ulster Museum exhibit at the NGI, very good, but I was struck again how completely they are failing to look after the unforgiving Millennium wing. It is a disaster, nearly every door needs rehanging, it is scuffed, dirty and damaged, safety has forced a number of sad interventions, the signage is poor and all the interesting nooks and alcoves have been cordoned off!
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