Even before it opened, the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ Sydney Modern Project was touted as the most significant cultural development for Sydney since the Opera House. Twelve months and two million visitors later, that theory has been vindicated by international art magazine Apollo – the folks in the know have granted Sydney Modern Project the award for Museum Opening of the Year.
Plans for the Art Gallery of New South Wales’ spectacular expansion had been in the works for a decade, and were brought to life by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa of SANAA. The cavernous, beautifully minimalist space comprises three limestone-clad pavilions, more than 3,400 square metres of accessible roof ‘art terraces’ and courtyards, and a subterranean “tank” (pictured above) formed from a former Second World War bunker.
In justifying their choice, Apollo cited Sydney Modern’s striking design’s ability to reflect the “reorientation of the cultural compass of contemporary Australia”.
The award announcement referenced our other major cultural mecca, describing the Sydney Opera House as “the acme of the architectural icon” and Sydney Modern, conversely, as “an anti-icon… [where] the art is the heart”.
If you’re yet to see the space for yourself, now is the time to change that – with a particularly monumental show occupying two floors of the gallery until April celebrating the life, work and philosophy of French-American artist Louise Bourgeois.