The Art Gallery of New South Wales is set to open a new building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects SANAA.
The museum’s Sydney Modern expansion opens to the public on 3 December, with more than 15,000 people already registered to visit during the first weekend.
“Our vision has been to transform the art gallery into an art museum campus with seamless connections between art, architecture and landscape,” said Michael Brand, the director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
“I am incredibly proud to now be welcoming visitors to our expansion, which has such a strong sense of place and such an innovative display of art.”
The new art museum now has two buildings connected by a public art garden that overlooks Sydney Harbour.
The SANAA-designed building features three limestone art pavilions, as well as 3,400 square metres of accessible roof ‘art terraces’ and courtyards.
SANAA principals Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa said they aimed to design a building “that is harmonious with its surroundings, one that breathes with the city, the park and the harbour”.
“We hope it will be a special place where visitors feel connected to art wherever they are in this beautiful setting,” they added.
The expansion almost doubles the museum’s exhibition space, and includes a larger, dedicated gallery for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.
Sydney Modern designed by SANAA
Below the building, a WW2 naval fuel bunker has been converted into a unique 2,200-square-metre space named the Tank.
“An Indigenous lens is held up across our displays as they powerfully herald new art histories to be written from here,” said Maud Page, the gallery’s deputy director and director of collections.
The Art Gallery of New South Wales is opening with a free programme of exhibitions, collection displays and new commissions.
In Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) has received a record donation of A$100m to construct The Fox: NGV Contemporary, Australia’s largest contemporary art museum.
Image: Iwan Baan
