Opening of the Turner Contemporary Museum by David Chipperfield

London architect David Chipperfield, the recent recipient of the European Union Prize for contemporary architecture, opened another of his projects over the past weekend in the seaside town of Margate on the southeast coast of England - Turner Contemporary. The new museum was ceremonially opened by leading British artist Tracey Emin, who is classified as part of the so-called YBAs (Young British Artists) and spent a rather unhappy youth in this town.
Chipperfield's museum aims to bring a new wave of tourism to the faded spa town with nearly twenty percent unemployment, similar to what the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Basque Country, initiated. Unlike Gehry's exuberant construction, Chipperfield opted for the simplicity of forms. The six identical volumes resemble the shed roofs of industrial halls. Chipperfield adds to his project: “I wanted the building to have something innocent to the point of naive. It is subjected to strict geometry and should not radiate anything demanding or worldly.”
The museum is named after the English painter Joseph Mallord William Turner, considered a predecessor of Impressionism, who spent part of his childhood in Margate. His paintings capturing the romantic landscape often feature boats and the sea. Turner believed that the most beautiful sky in Europe was around Margate. In adulthood, he often returned here and rented a house on the coast, where today’s museum has been built. The lighting also played a significant role, allowing northern light diffused from the sea to enter the exhibition spaces.

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