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Photos: First V&A East building tops out in East London ceremony

2021-12-15T13:42:00-05:00

Exciting news in the museum world as the first site of the long-awaited Victoria & Albert Museum’s East extension has officially topped out as of this week.

The new V&A East has been years in the making. After overcoming roadblocks which threatened its existence beginning with sharp public criticism at its inception in 2016 and lasting all the way until this past fall, when it was announced that a much-heralded partnership with the American Smithsonian institution had to be called off thanks to unforeseen circumstances caused by the pandemic.

The O'Donnell + Tuomey-designed building is one of two slated to transform East London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park into a premier destination for the city’s artistic community.

The building was inspired by an x-ray of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s 1956 silk taffeta dress and will house a slate of progressive exhibitions and an employment program which includes the newly-established V&A East Youth Collective along...

Diller Scofidio + Renfro and O'Donnell + Tuomey unveil designs for V&A East project

2018-11-02T16:43:00-04:00

London's Victoria & Albert Museum unveiled the anticipated design plans for the V&A East project in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Scheduled to open in 2023 as part of the £1.1 billion East Bank development, the project comprises of two interconnected sites: a new 5-story museum at Stratford Waterfront designed by Dublin-based O'Donnell + Tuomey Architects, and the new Here East collection and research center designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, with support from British architecture firm Austin-Smith:Lord.

V&A collection and research center at Here East

Interior rendering of the new V&A collection and research center at Here East, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Pictured above is a marquetry ceiling from the now-destroyed Altamira Palace near Toledo, Spain, c.1490. © Diller Scofidio + Renfro, 2018.

Flexible display space in the new V&A collection and research center at Here East, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro. © Diller Scofidio + Renfro, 2018.

Rendering of Edgar J. Kaufm...

Smithsonian London outpost confirmed

2018-04-10T14:16:00-04:00

The Smithsonian Institution has confirmed that it will work with the Victoria and Albert Museum to set up a joint gallery and exhibition programme in East London, on the former Olympic site. Yesterday (9 April) the Smithsonian’s regents (trustees) gave formal approval for their first base outside the US.

We first reported about the Smithsonian Institution's interest in setting up its first-ever satellite gallery outside of the U.S. back in 2015. A lot has changed since then, and evolved, scaled-back plans now foresee a collaboration with the V&A.

V&A East project update

2016-04-21T12:02:00-04:00

A key part of the V&A’s expanding family of sites dedicated to the past, present and future of the designed world, V&A East is a brand new civic space and cultural destination that will form part of the Olympic legacy project taking shape at Stratford Waterfront.

The seven-storey building is being designed by award-winning architectural practice O’Donnell-Tuomey and is part of the masterplan developed with Allies and Morrison for the new educational and cultural district in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in east London. At 18,000 sq metres, V&A East will sit directly opposite Zaha Hadid’s London Aquatics Centre and adjacent to a group of partners with which the V&A has great creative synergy: Sadler’s Wells, UAL’s London College of Fashion and UCL (University College London).

V&A East will be an entirely new kind of civic institution. At its core will be the ability and remit to respond quickly to current affairs, and to use objects, the V&A collection, collaborations and displays to in...