The V&A East Museum has announced the shortlist for its galleries design competition, which was launched in April 2022. The winner will be revealed in late summer 2022.
V&A East is searching for a team of designers, architects and creatives to design two ‘Why We Make’ exhibition spaces in the museum, due to open in 2025 at Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The following design teams are progressing to the next stage of the competition:
- Citizens Design Bureau with Hayatsu Architects, Neba Sere and Rose Nordin
- Freehaus x IDK + Bergini
- JA Projects with A Practice for Everyday Life and Larry Achiampong
- OMMX with HATO
- Studio C102 + Mobile Studio Architects + Manijeh Verghese with Sthuthi Ramesh
Spanning two floors, the galleries will be home to approximately 700 objects from the V&A’s collections across 5,000 years of art, design and performance. These will include new acquisitions.
“We are passionate about responding to our audience and we need a gallery design which is truly inclusive and surpasses their expectations,” says Claire McKeown, V&A East project director.
“We want to create galleries that evoke wonder, surprise and intrigue through experiential design, using colour, pattern, texture, light and sound to engage with our audiences.”
V&A East is searching for dynamic, active and captivating designs. The ‘Why We Make’ galleries will include an immersive film room for screenings. They will also host a programme of pop-up events and performances.
V&A East Museum opens in 2025
“V&A East’s ‘Why We Make’ galleries are about celebrating the transformative power of making in the face of the major issues of our time,” adds Catherine Ince, V&A East chief curator.
“We’re seeking a team to express their creativity and expertise in a design that brings together a diverse range of objects spanning time, geography and different mediums to create a welcoming, contemporary space that offers our visitors immersive, energising and empowering experiences alongside quieter opportunities to switch off, contemplate and lose themselves in thought.”
Designed by O’Donnell & Tuomey, the V&A East Museum is located in London’s East Bank development. It will offer free galleries, ticketed temporary exhibitions, two retail spaces and a cafe.
The new museum is part of V&A East, which includes the V&A East Storehouse. The collection and research centre is set to open in 2024 at Here East.
Images: V&A
