http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/transformingtm
The ‘Transforming TATE Modern’ read like a design brief, dry and fact-based. You can imagine the writer ticking off a checklist as they write the text. Everything is written to justify the project, for the local community, the arts sector (and possible patrons and sponsors?).
A computer generated image of the new building, from the south
© Herzog & de Meuron / Hayes Davidson
The information promotes the gallery and its benefits like an advertising campaign. If you were being cynical you could easily read the pages dedicated to the ‘transformation’ of the TATE Modern as a package designed to draw patronage and sponsorship. The advantages of the new wing and its foreseen prestige are presented to these people as an investment opportunity that would be beneficial to their cultural reputation and confirm their place amongst the Arts community. In essence pages like the one entitled ‘Once in a Lifetime Opportunity’ smack of a Real Estate development or investment opportunity offered to ‘ground floor’ investors.
If I was researching this site for an architectural design subject it would be very beneficial, offering: artists impressions, local zoning; the architects; master plans and section drawings. However I am not. It does fulfil my research aims when it outlines all (or all that can be publicly known) of the concerns when a gallery decides it needs to extend its residence. But, somehow I can’t help feeling that I am been ‘sold’ something. As if this website is an internet version of a roadside spruiker. I am not a current or potential patron or sponsor (or concerned local resident) who is in need of persuasion of the benefits of the extension. In realistic terms this site is of interest, a starting point for research but not a primary research tool. It functions as a case study within a wider program of research.
The Master Plan
An airial view of the Bankside/Southwark area with the TATE Modern.
North-south section through the building showing the new development on the left and the Tate chimney on the right.
The layout is visually helpful and easy to navigate. The images provide an idea of the way the new wing would look in-situ with the current building. The Master Plans show the development within the local area and the new access routes to be built to aid the gallery and local residents. The artist impressions of the proposed building and the portfolio of the chosen architects work help to visualise the project. The images clearly display the link between the artworks displayed in the collection and the modern design of the proposed building.
View of the development of Tate Modern as seen from the new south square
© Herzog & de Meuron / Hayes Davidson
The Unilever Series: Olafur Eliasson The Weather Project, Tate Modern 2003, © Tate Modern & Olafur Eliasson, 2003
All in all the use of images and architectural drawings are successful. For me the images that display the exhibition possibilities of the current space and the descriptions of the new space create a message that the new wing will only be bigger and better, ‘only’ beneficial for the development and display of modern and contemporary art.
The point form structure and categorical sectioning of the textual information is easy to follow and understand. The facts based text is appropriate for research purposes but may be a little dry for viewers just browsing the site. In the end, complete with its sales pitch and visual appeal, I see this site as the TATE Modern’s very own (internet) spruiker.