Tate modern when was it built

A belated embrace of international works and an underpowered acquisition budget left it with a mediocre collection of modern art. Stranded in a lifeless residential district, it hosted endless exhibitions on Turner, the pre-Raphaelites and middle-ranking British painters of the post-war years.

Serota had help in raising the profile of contemporary art. Tate had already established modest outposts in Liverpool and St Ives with some success, but had long-standing aspirations to separate its modern and British collections. It festered gently amid a messy patchwork of railway viaducts, bomb damage and abandoned warehouses, yet was conveniently adjacent to the rather grubby ribbon of cultural institutions built on the South Bank in the s and 60s.

With a handy subway line also under construction, the area was ripe for cultural regeneration. New museums are often marriages of convenience: architects use cultural commissions as opportunities for self-expression; clients are eager for iconic architecture. The needs of the institution, and of the objects on display, can end up as secondary considerations. At Tate Modern, thanks to a highly structured design process, the art came first.

The choice of Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron as architects was a canny one. They were little known outside Switzerland but had a strong record of collaborating with artists, and their scheme — when compared to rival plans from David Chipperfield , Tadao Ando and Renzo Piano — was far from eye-catching. Galleries, shops, an auditorium and other facilities were neatly slotted into the pre-existing boiler house beneath.

The result was an exhilarating and hugely popular public space that, unlike most international equivalents, was also free to access. Sloping gently downwards at its entrance, the turbine hall acted as a covered street that extended from its concrete floor, through austere new landscaping outside birches were pretty much all that could survive the industrial soil , right out to the river, previously hidden behind walls.

And it also proved itself as a generative display space. Major figures such as Anish Kapoor , Doris Salcedo, Bruce Nauman and Ai Weiwei created site-specific installations that were significant events in their own right. Previously, committed cultural pilgrims almost revelled in its unpleasantness, which gave proof of their devotion to the arts. Now it became a genuinely popular destination. There were criticisms. To some they suited the serious business of looking at art; to others they were dour, neglecting broad views over London and playing second fiddle to the turbine hall.

A thematic hang needled many critics, while concealing the patchiness of the collection. The circulation was problematic — a single, spindly escalator led up from the turbine hall, skipping the floor on which most visitors, defying expectations, entered the building. Some found the pervasive branding heavy-handed.

The transformation of the Power Station began in with the removal of the machinery and a number of out buildings. The building was left as a brick shell supported by a steel skeleton.

The Construction Management method was used to construct the new gallery. The building work was split into distinct packages, each carried out by a specialist contractor. The Construction Manager, Schal a division of Carillion plc was responsible for the whole construction programme.

Construction work began on the site during October when the concrete foundation was laid. It seemed dangerous. It is totally unimaginable now, but this was a huge chunk of the city that was totally excluded from public life, set back behind high walls.

We felt powerless in the face of it. The building really was a monster. The term we used was aikido, referring to the Japanese martial art that turns the force of the enemy back on itself. We are not classicists: we like to start with the obvious form and then make arguments against it. The Turbine Hall is probably the best thing we have done in our career. It was full of turbines when we found it, but it was still awe-inspiring. The turbine hall became a dramatic entrance and display area and the boiler house became the galleries.

Victor Tomlinson, Bankside embankment, East Embankment extension seen from station roof. Since it opened in May , more than 40 million people have visited Tate Modern. In Tate embarked on a major project to develop Tate Modern.