{"id":532222,"date":"2026-04-15T13:13:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:13:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/532222\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:13:14","slug":"va-east-museum-by-odonnell-tuomey-unveiled-in-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/532222\/","title":{"rendered":"V&A East Museum by O’Donnell + Tuomey unveiled in London"},"content":{"rendered":"

The highly-anticipated V&A East Museum by Irish studio O’Donnell + Tuomey<\/a> has reached completion in London<\/a>, with galleries by JA Projects and shops by Studio Mutt<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clad in concrete panels, the angular, five-storey museum<\/a> in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park<\/a> will open to the public this Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"V&AThe angular V&A East Museum has been unveiled in London<\/p>\n

O’Donnell + Tuomey<\/a> designed the building’s faceted exterior to distinguish it as the cultural centrepiece of the wider development, which includes\u00a0the Diller Scofidio + Renfro<\/a>-designed V&A East Storehouse<\/a> that opened last year.<\/p>\n

O’Donnell + Tuomey co-founder John Tuomey explained the thinking behind the form of the building to Dezeen ahead of the opening<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"GalleryIt was designed as the cultural centrepiece of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park<\/p>\n

“It has this crust around the edge that gives it its identity externally, but also the crust is where all the movement and circulation spaces are folded into,” Tuomey told Dezeen. “Every corner you turn, it persuades you to keep exploring.”<\/p>\n

The V&A East Museum aims to celebrate creativity and its east London location with a series of stacked galleries, cafes, shops and terraces, along with a large event space.<\/p>\n

Set opposite the Olympic Stadium, the museum opens out onto a newly created square at its base, with the main entrance and a cafe located on this floor.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorPermanent gallery spaces were designed by JA Projects<\/p>\n

A continuous stair extends from this floor the full height of the building. It connects to the other main entrance on the floor above along with the permanent Why We Make exhibition spaces designed by JA Projects<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It concludes at the temporary exhibition gallery \u2013 the largest space in the museum \u2013 at the top of the building.<\/p>\n

Designed to feel rooted in its east London location, the Why We Make exhibition showcases over 500 design, fashion, art and architecture objects.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"V&A<\/p>\n

O’Donnell + Tuomey reveals “jewel-like” V&A East Museum ahead of opening\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

“V&A East Museum is shaped by east London \u2013 its high streets, its parks, and the ways communities already gather, make and represent themselves,” said JA Projects founding director Jayden Ali.<\/p>\n

“It draws directly from how space is shaped and inhabited across the city, from how shop fronts are illuminated to how textile is displayed, bringing those rhythms into the heart of the museum,” he continued.<\/p>\n

“Conceived as an extension of the public realm, the galleries take inspiration from these familiar places to create an environment that feels open, accessible and grounded in everyday life.”<\/p>\n

\"InteriorThe museum aims to celebrate creativity in east London<\/p>\n

Among the pieces on show in Why We Make are designs by British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori<\/a>, architecture collective\u00a0Assemble<\/a>, Pakistani architect\u00a0Yasmeen Lari<\/a>, British designer\u00a0Vivienne Westwood<\/a> and Japanese fashion brand\u00a0Comme des Gar\u00e7ons<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We want to re-empower young people to think about creativity,” said V&A East Museum chief curator Brendan Cormier. “This is not a space where you need to spend a fortune on art school to get into, it’s a space that you can participate in.”<\/p>\n

“The name of the gallery, Why We Make, speaks to the intention of the gallery \u2013 making is a creative practice, not just a hobby.”<\/p>\n

\"InteriorStudio Mutt designed the shops in the museum<\/p>\n

In the temporary gallery space, the V&A East Museum’s inaugural exhibition, The Music is Black: A British Story, explores the impact of Black British music through over 200 objects.<\/p>\n

The museum also contains a pair of shops designed by Studio Mutt<\/a> on the first and third floors that make use of timber display units on castors.<\/p>\n

\"InteriorA stair zigzags up the full height of the building<\/p>\n

Other galleries that have recently opened in the UK include a zig-zagging brick museum dedicated to shoemaking<\/a> and a renovated agricultural building that houses the sculptures of Henry Moore<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The photography is by Hufton + Crow<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The highly-anticipated V&A East Museum by Irish studio O’Donnell + Tuomey has reached completion in London, with galleries…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":532223,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6225,6485,6486,52037,1120,309,96,388,10748,51177,40339,40340,184182,56,54,55,66231],"class_list":{"0":"post-532222","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-cultural-buildings","12":"tag-design","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-entertainment","15":"tag-london","16":"tag-museums","17":"tag-queen-elizabeth-olympic-park","18":"tag-sectionall","19":"tag-sectionarchitecture","20":"tag-studio-mutt","21":"tag-uk","22":"tag-united-kingdom","23":"tag-unitedkingdom","24":"tag-va"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532222","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=532222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/532222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/532223"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=532222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=532222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=532222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}