kengo kuma: V&A at dundee shortlisted design

Kengo kuma’s shortlisted design of the ‘V&A at dundee‘ is a single volume composed of two tapered and offset forms which aims to generate new relations between the tay river and the waterfront. Given the very prominent site of the project, the proposal not only looks at the building itself but a new addition of a network of public spaces to take advantage of the harbour space. The result is a literal extension of the public space onto the water and a promenade that meanders through and around the building. The creation of multiple public plazas at the foot of the museum not only serve as an outdoor exhibition/event space for the institution, but reshapes the waterfront into a space for both locals and visitors to enjoy.

Primarily driven by the conditions already on site, the overall shape and form of the museum negotiates the already strong and established axes of the waterfront: the city’s access which runs along union street, and the axis created by the docked ‘RSS discovery’, the last wooden three-masted ship to be built in britain, now serving as one of dundee’s main attraction. taking these two intersecting lines and rotating one onto the other, the directionality of the V&A encourages unexpected visual relations with the river and the city. Moments along the public promenade which meanders under the belly of the museum are framed by the structure itself, providing certain views and perspectives of dundee and the tay.

Constructed out of layers of prefabricated concrete beams, the building lacks any hard edges when seen from a distance. The columns are assembled on site to achieve the gradually offset structure and clad in reconstituted stone from local materials. The resulting permeable shell allows for natural ventilation as well as abundant daylighting. The actual structure itself is cut with glazing which changes the density of the volume, provides texture, and allows the museum to easily control the museum’s microclimate.

The main hall serves as an indoor public square with programs such as shops, cafe and restaurant. In order to avoid the perfection of the museum as a self-standing extraneous object on the river, the timer deck of the promenade and plaza is gradually translated to the interior and continued on the other side of the building.