{"id":518155,"date":"2026-04-07T19:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/518155\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T19:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T19:30:08","slug":"national-gallery-picks-tokyo-olympic-stadium-architect-to-design-new-wing-national-gallery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/518155\/","title":{"rendered":"National Gallery picks Tokyo Olympic stadium architect to design new wing | National Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

The National Gallery<\/a> has announced that its largest and most significant transformation in its 200-year history will be designed by the Japanese architect behind Tokyo\u2019s Olympic stadium.<\/p>\n

The new wing will be designed by Kengo Kuma as part of Project Domani, the gallery\u2019s expansion into art from the 20th and 21st centuries. Its completion will make the National Gallery the only museum in the world that exclusively displays paintings where visitors will be able to view the entire history of painting in the western tradition.<\/p>\n

The gallery has traditionally not collected many paintings made after 1900 because of an agreement with Tate, which in turn collects only modern art. Industry insiders previously said tearing up the agreement could create \u201cbad blood\u201d<\/a> and a situation in which the two galleries are \u201cat each other\u2019s throats\u201d.<\/p>\n

The National Gallery is expanding its collection to feature art from the 20th and 21st centuries. Photograph: Vuk Valcic\/Zuma Press\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

The National Gallery launched an international architectural competition for its new wing and said a total of 65 submissions were received, with six architects shortlisted to take part in a design competition.<\/p>\n

The jury panel found the design submission from Kengo Kuma and Associates alongside BDP and MICA \u201cexemplary\u201d and awarded it the highest available score. They beat practices led by Norman Foster, Renzo Piano, Farshid Moussavi and Annabelle Selldorf.<\/p>\n

John Booth, the National Gallery\u2019s chair of trustees and jury chair, said Kuma had created a \u201cbeautiful design inside and out, sensitive to our existing Grade I exteriors and distinctive gallery spaces\u201d. He said the new building would also \u201chelp to unite two of London\u2019s most important outdoor spaces \u2013 Leicester and Trafalgar Squares \u2013 by creating enticing new public realm between them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"KengoKengo Kuma\u2019s practice was awarded the project alongside BDP and MICA. Photograph: J.C. Carbonne<\/p>\n

Kuma, 71, also designed V&A Dundee, which opened in 2018. One of his designs became the subject of controversy this month<\/a> when his idea for a new porch for a 1,000-year-old cathedral in western France was described by critics as a \u201cwart\u201d. The \u20ac5.5m construction in Angers will open on Thursday.<\/p>\n

The National Gallery\u2019s new wing will be built on a site bought by the gallery 30 years ago that houses a hotel and an office complex. It is part of a \u00a3750m campaign that the organisation says will redefine it for the next century.<\/p>\n

The gallery has already raised \u00a3375m for Project Domani, including the two largest ever publicly reported cash donations to a museum or gallery globally.<\/p>\n

Crankstart, the charitable foundation of Michael Moritz and his wife, Harriet Heyman, pledged \u00a3150m, as did the Julia Rausing Trust. A further \u00a375m has been contributed by the National Gallery Trust, Booth and other anonymous donors.<\/p>\n

The money will be used to buy post-1900 works of art and to provide an endowment fund. However, the gallery is facing an \u00a38.2m deficit<\/a> that will lead to job losses and potentially fewer exhibitions, higher ticket prices and reduced international borrowing of artworks.<\/p>\n

Kuma designed the Olympic stadium for the Tokyo Games. Photograph: Carl Court\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

The National Gallery\u2019s original choice in 1982 for what is now known as the Sainsbury Wing was scrapped after the then Prince Charles denounced it as \u201ca monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the jury said of Kuma\u2019s new wing: \u201cThe design is both innovative and beautiful, meeting the ambition and sensitivity required for an international gallery commission. It is respectful of the Sainsbury Wing galleries \u2026 and the approach to the public realm and roof garden creates a generous presence, enhanced by trees and greenery.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The National Gallery has announced that its largest and most significant transformation in its 200-year history will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518156,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[96,59,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-518155","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518155","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518155"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518155\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518155"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518155"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518155"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}