Tate Modern New Switch House

The Switch House

Today I had the chance to see the new Tate Modern extension by architects Herzog & de Meuron before it opens to the public on the 17th June. The visit was part of a special schools only event called ASSEMBLY to encourage younger people to engage with art. The new building 'The Switch House' is striking and bold. Lots of polished concrete, glass and beautiful wooden stairs. One of the aims of the new build was to showcase more culturally diverse work and that of women artists.

The Switch House

With 3,000 school children invited to the event you can imagine the atmosphere was rather frenetic. The nerves of the many volunteers and curators of the Tate was palpable as thousands of Primary and Secondary school kids watched, looked at and explored the art work on display.

I am certainly going to return at a quieter time to enjoy the new Switch House and re-discover old favourites in the re-hang of the Boiler House.

I will leave you with a number of rather striking pieces of art - I apologise that I didn't catch get the names of all the artists in my photos below.

Jane Alexander

Jane Alexander

Ai Weiwei

Tony Cragg

Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois