REVIEW: Tate Modern Extension (Switch House), London

I finally had some time this week to go and explore the new extension to the Tate Modern which opened a couple of weeks ago. The extension (dubbed 'Switch House') provides another ten floors worth of gallery space to the landmark contemporary gallery.

I have to say on approach, the new extension looks spectacular. It blends in surprisingly well with the existing venue but looks iconic and unique in its own right. It certainly will provide architecture and photography lovers with resourceful new inspiration.

I entered through the new extension and found myself pretty lost to begin with. I was a little disorientated as to where the new building started and where the old site met. But after a little consolidation and aimless wandering (mainly back and forth through the shiny new gift shop) I decided to explore my way up the Switch House one floor at a time.

If you're seeking actual artwork, there are three floors worth of new and old material. I have to admit, gallery-wise, the extension feels much smaller on the inside than it first appears on the outside once you've orientated yourself. As a frequent Tate visitor, I noticed that a notable portion of the artwork in the new galleries was work I'd seen from other branches of the Tate or from previous exhibitions. Despite this, the Switch House galleries are light, open and very inviting and host a different feel to the existing Tate galleries.

After exploring the art galleries, I was recommended to visit the top floor viewing level. This is probably one of the main attractions to the venue other than seeing the art, as a huge proportion of visitors were waiting to take lifts up to the tenth floor. Unfortunately the lifts are all rather small and don't seem to adequately accommodate the demand of visitors going up to the viewing level, leaving many like me braving ourselves to scale the ten flights of stairs instead (although granted, I had already conquered four out of the ten floors at this point). What I found curious on my way up was that the other six floors of the building were still very much empty. So keep this in mind if you're planning to visit. My guess is that the building is still very much a work in progress and they wanted to open as soon as possible. As I mentioned earlier, there were three floors of artwork and the ground floor hosts the gift shop and cafe.

So once I'd huffed and puffed my way up the tenth floor, the view up top is definitely worth the hike. The views across London are fantastic, and you're able to look straight across the Thames. It's also pleasantly not as crowded as you'd expect it to be judging by the amount of people taking lifts up.

All in all I am very excited at the prospect of this new extension and I think it will offer a huge potential of new opportunities. In it's current state, the building is certainly not yet finished or full to capacity but it's definitely worth a visit.

REVIEW: [1:1 Architects Build Small Spaces] @ V&A, London

For an exhibition, nineteen architects were invited to submit a concept design for buildings informed by ideas of retreat and refuge, these were all designed in mind to be small in scale.

"the power that architecture has to silence all external noise, to focus attention on ones very own existence, away from everyday life and in the present moment, and to initiate a private dialogue with the space around us."

Ark (2010) by Rintala Eggertsson

Ark (2010) Rintala Eggertsson

In-Between Architecture (2010) by Studio Mumbai

Woodshed (2010) by Rural Studio

"Pallasmaa has expressed his concern that architecture has lost its connection with the body, that is has lost its potential for tactility and sensuous curiosity," and "Steven Holl indicated that in a world cluttered with a chaos of visual information we have developed a numbness in relation to the space around us, becoming increasingly passive in the way we read, interpret and consume our architecture."

"...the idea is to leave domestic surroundings and your everyday thoughts behind and enter a space that puts you into a state of wonder. Its a retreat, but unlike introverted contemplation, these spaces force you to interact with your surroundings. When entering, reality gradually transforms; things are not necessarily as they appear. The idea is to create a dreamlike atmosphere, where the borders between reality and illusion are blurred."

"we hope the visitor will experience a balanced joy -using body and mind to travel to unknown spaces."

Everything these architects have been discussing has a direct parallel in my work. I want people to be able to engage with spaces with a new sense of wonder and curiosity, to let their body and minds interact and immerse fully in the space around them and to forget the rest of reality.