The highly sculptural V&A Museum of Design Dundee is Japanese architect Kengo Kuma’s first UK building – as well as Scotland’s very first dedicated design museum. The new structure is now complete and gearing up to throw open its doors to the public on 15 September.
North Eastern Scotland’s ragged cliffs inspired the complex’s distinct shapes, which feature exterior cladding of layered horizontal cast-stone panels – there are some 2,500 sheets involved. At the same time, the concrete structure appears light, bearing an abstract resemblance to the prow of a ship, moored on the riverbank; it is no wonder the project was awarded Best Facade at the 2018 Wallpaper* Design Awards.
Kuma wanted the building to welcome visitors with a strong design gesture. Located on the city’s waterfront, overlooking the River Tay, the new, three-storey high structure will also include a café, restaurant and learning facilities. The museum's programme, which will be freely open to all, will include the best of Scottish design from all periods displayed via permanent and temporary shows, and a variety of education programmes.
V&A Dundee will welcome the public through its doors for the very first time with a two-day long festival – the last month countdown has now began. Legendary Scottish band Primal Scream will appear in a specially commissioned new collaboration with Turner Prize-winning Scottish artist Jim Lambie. Light, sound and architecture will come together to celebrate the launch of Kuma's striking contribution to Dundee.
The opening will mark the V&A's first new building outside London.
The striking facade is made of cast stone panels
V&A Dundee sits on the city’s waterfront, overlooking the River Tay
A two-day festival with workshops and performances will celebrate the museum's launch.
INFORMATION
For more information visit the website of Kengo Kuma & Associates
-
Seiko and Datsun mark a shared heritage and history with three new limited-edition watchesThe Japanese brands pay tribute to the Datsun 240Z and Prospex Speedtimer in a new collaboration
-
The world’s most exclusive auto show? The Quail is now a hotspot of high-end car launchesThe Quail, A Motorsports Gathering brings a few thousand well-heeled car buyers to a Californian golf course to showcase the latest in luxury and sporting auto design
-
Why everyone in LA is talking about Café TondoHelmed by chef Valeria Velásquez and designed by Aunt Studio, this new spot delivers Latin American buzz all day long
-
Campaigners propose reuse to save Kenzo Tange’s modernist ‘Ship Gymnasium’ in JapanThe Pritzker Prize-winning architect’s former Kagawa Prefectural Gymnasium is at risk of demolition; we caught up with the campaigners who hope to save it
-
A new photo book explores the symbolic beauty of the Japanese garden‘Modern Japanese Gardens’ from Thames & Hudson traces the 20th-century evolution of these serene spaces, where every element has a purpose
-
The Monthly Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s favourite July housesFrom geometric Japanese cottages to restored modernist masterpieces, these are the best residential projects to have crossed the architecture desk this month
-
Mayumi Miyawaki’s Fukumura Cottage puts this lesser-known Japanese modernist in the spotlightDiscover the little-known modernist architect through this private home in Japan’s Tochigi prefecture countryside
-
Kengo Kuma’s ‘Paper Clouds’ in London is a ‘poem’ celebrating washi paper in construction‘Paper Clouds’, an installation by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, is a poetic design that furthers research into the use of washi paper in construction
-
A Karuizawa house is a soothing, work-from-home retreat in JapanTakeshi Hirobe Architects play with scale and space, creating a tranquil residence in which to live and work
-
Naoshima New Museum of Art is a home for Asian art, and a lasting legacy, in Seto Inland SeaThe Naoshima New Museum of Art opens, marking a seminal addition to the Japanese island's renowned Benesse Art Site Naoshima; we explore Tadao Ando's design
-
Behind a contemporary veil, this Kyoto house has tradition at its coreDesigned by Apollo Architects & Associates, a Kyoto house in Uji City is split into a series of courtyards, adding a sense of wellbeing to its residential environment
