The long-awaited Turner Gallery in Margate is open

We made a trip to the new Turner Gallery in Margate, having heard that it was finally open. We were intrigued to see the outcome of a design process that began back in the 90's.
The gallery's name commemorates the town's links with Turner, the great seascape and landscape painter.  He started school in Margate in 1786 when he was 11. He found himself smitten by the sea, the sky and the quality of the light.  He returned many times and later fell in love with his seaside landlady Mrs Booth.  Margate is now run-down and deprived and it is hoped that the new building will create a "Bilbao effect", drawing visitors and much-needed regeneration funds to the town.

Various architects were involved in the project during its history but the final design was by Stirling Prize-winner David Chipperfield Architects.  The project has been trimmed in size and moved from an offshore structure back onto land but the result is still very striking.  The simple but elegant volumetric forms on the harbour's edge are clad in white glass with slots of glazing allowing views out to sea and north light into the galleries.  The best thing about the complex is the entrance courtyard which faces the town.  It is sheltered from the cold northerly winds, bathed in sun and occupied by a really smart cafe.  Locals and visitors will definitely be drawn to the courtyard, even if they are not art lovers.

The large pared-back gallery spaces are perfect for modern art - although they felt a little sparse during the first major exhibition.... The standout artist was Russell Crotty, whose ethereal landscape drawings and delicate globes were adorable.  The American artist createded one fibreglass sphere especially for the show. Walking Towards Dreamland – suspended almost invisibly so that it seems to float in the air, light as a dandelion clock – is decorated with white cliffs over which, on close inspection, is etched a strange graffiti of Margate words and experiences. It's delightful, capturing the coast's beauty and its fugitive underbelly in a scant series of lines.

Fab floors at the Saatchi Gallery

We loved the 450mm wide Douglas floorboards at the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea by Danish firm Dinesen  The firm sources its Douglas Fir, which is stronger than other pines with fewer knots, from fully sustainable sources.  The boards come in lengths of up to 15m and are finished in lye and white soap to give the beautiful pale finish.

It's Peter Zumthor this year at the Serpentine

This year's wonderful pavillion at the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens is best described by photos and journalist Florence Waters article in the Telegraph:

The erection of the Serpentine summer pavilion in Hyde Park is the sure sign in London that summer has arrived. But as you approach this year’s modest, austere black box quietly tucked between the bright leafy trees, you begin to wonder.
From the outside Swiss architect Peter Zumthor’s pavilion is a mere shadow of a structure, and will attract the attention of only the most curious of park-goers. Yet those that do venture inside will be richly rewarded because this, the 11th commission in the Gallery's annual series, is one of the most confident and successful yet.
“It was my dream project,” Zumthor said yesterday as he stood admiring the wild bed of grasses and plant life bursting forth from the center of the peaceful haven he has created. That is precisely the objective of the Serpentine’s brilliant commission: to provide a leading architect who has never designed a work in the UK before with a generous budget, a busy public plot of land, and absolute freedom to build their fantasy summer hangout.
Taking the cap off creativity can prove a difficult challenge for architects. Last year French architect Jean Nouvel clearly relished the freedom. His bombastic red structure, complete with bean bags and Ping-Pong tables, was a cacophony of different materials and clashing styles. The result was a loud and showy caffeine-friendly social club-like space where its strong colour attracted its public like bees to a big bright flower.
In stark contrast then, this year’s structure feels incredibly restrained and sophisticated. The building itself is a modernist take on a medieval monastery, with four symmetrical open-aired corridors providing just enough space to sit and contemplate the nature contained within. It obeys classically elegant long thin proportions and, in reverence to light, the roof opens up at a gentle slant so that sun feels like it is pouring in, rather than being blocked out by the dark walls.
Zumthor designed Kunsthaus Bregenz, a cubic concrete building that overlooks Lake Constance in Austria and a cave-like thermal baths in Vals, Switzerland. He’s a master at inverting our expectations of dark spaces and austere clean lines, making them feel remarkably cosy, cooling and calming.

But what I love most is how generous the design feels. It celebrates everything within and around itself: Dutch garden designer Piet Oudolf’s centerpiece, a meadow of cow-parsley and mixed wild grasses (he was given free reign by Zumthor) becomes the focal point. The neat square of sky above is, strangely, another highlight: how often to you see a patch of sky gloriously framed like a giant oil painting above your head?
All possible weather forecasts have been thought about. The seating area has a roof, but the angle of the building is such that there will always be sun on one side and shade on another. On a nice day the sun creates dramatic shadows across the walls, and spotlights the flower bed. The garden is a trap for flies, bees and butterflies, of course, but above all it feels like a secret garden just for you, an escape from the noisy city park. Once inside nothing else matters, not even architecture.