For the Tate Modern Extension they are proposing to build a brick ziggurat looming behind the Turbine Hall.

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2 For Architecture and world I have looked at the extension to the Tate modern. One of the reasons why I have chosen this project is because I really admire the work of Herzog and de Meuron. For me their buildings are unique and clever. They do not have a defining style like Frank Gehry, whose different buildings all have a certain similarity. This suggests to me that they considers the surroundings, they really analyse the context and try to find something, which best fits as well as making a statement. To me they are always coming up with new ideas and pushing the boundaries of architecture. The detail they add to their buildings increases the enjoyment when using the building greatly. Although the current Tate modern uses an existing shell, an old power station built by Giles Gilbert Scott, the design and architecture to transform it has made it the success it is today. Again this suggests that the detailed research, which they undertook, leads to a successful building, which I admire. Little things such as the hand rail for the stairs, a dip for your hand to fit in neatly and guide you up the stairs, to large scale ideas such as the turbine hall, which has received praise from all angles on its qualities. Not only is a dramatic ramped entrance but also a space to display oversized sculptures which very few other museums have the resources to do, unless outside. The Tate Modern in only one of many other works, which they have built. Almost every time I have read about new designs I am impressed, there is always something original about them. It is for this reason that I am going to look more closely at their proposition for the Tate Modern extension.

3 For the Tate Modern Extension they are proposing to build a brick ziggurat looming behind the Turbine Hall. The design is clad in brick with continuous slits for windows. The base of the building is almost completely of solid brick with a single vertical slot. This solidness combined with the use of red brick, echoes the bulk of the power station, which it sits behind. While the series of slits above the base, lighten the structure. The new building will retain the oil tanks. This continues the theme of industry through out the two buildings and will give the extension a feeling of a more emphatically raw building. The tanks have such potential curatorially and architecturally, we ve tried to create something from below the ground and up, says Jacques Herzog. We ve taken the materiality of the oil tanks and the power station as something upon which the building is founded, Mr Herzog says, something which takes us away from the too-refined atmosphere of museums. It is an extraordinary design. The geometries of the site have morphed into a shape that is rational but also ambiguous and unique, says Mr Herzog. It needs to be integrated into the proportions of the historic buildings around it on the north and South Bank.

4 The Façade The façade of the building uses the same brick as the Power Station. This is to tie the two buildings together and show the relationship between the two. The fact that the London red brick is being used is something, which I really like about this proposal. In the United Kingdom, bricks have been used in construction for centuries. Until recently, almost all houses were built almost entirely from bricks. This is partly because London is built on clay and is therefore a easily accessible material. Recently however I find more and more buildings are being built out of glass, hence the reason I enjoy this building. Herzog and de Mueron have managed to create something, which is modern with out having to use modern material. They have thought out of the box and adapted a traditional method to make something unique. The brick is being used in a radical new way by creating a perforated brick screen through which light can filter in during the day and through which the building will glow at night. The brickwork flows a traditional Flemish bond, like the Tate Modern 1, however each header in this bong pattern is removed to create the perforation. Rather than each course being offset from the one below tow courses in succession are laid above each other, referred to as a double course, creating a perforation tow header high. This increases the perception of the perforation and allows for more light to penetrate the façade. In order to get the inclination require alternation double courses are stepped in from those above or below. This method allows the brickwork to be transformed from something solid to something much softer, creating a veil that covers the interior of the building. This method allows the brick work to, in someway, resemble the transparency of glass. The buildings most defining feature is the way it glows at night. The light from the interior escapes through the perforation. Energy will not be wasted as the lights will be turned off when the space is not being used.

5 As mentioned before the brickwork of the extension is a development of the TM1 brickwork and colour, size and bond. In order for the two buildings to match a visual review was carried out along with a photographic capture. This has been used to identify the brick types and the variety of texture and colour of the bricks used. The results found there were three different types of bricks used. The results have been used to make TM2 fit more accurately to TM1. A bank of glass commercial offices has arisen behind Tate Modern in the past few years and would have been easy and in some ways fitting to add another glass building the area, making it stand out as something separate from the TM1. However it would have only merged into the sea of glass buildings surrounding it, preventing it from standing out. Had it been made of glass, I would have found this a real shame as I find too many buildings these days are built from glass. it is almost as if people of forgotten about the other materials, or are to scared to use them as they are so associated with the past. It would have been even more of a shame to have been built of glass with the Shad being constructed next door to it, the TM2 would have had much less impact, as the shade will become an icon of the London skyline. By making TM2 out of brick it unites the two parts of the museum, which I think will prove to be important.

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7 The Design As outlined in the planning permission document the form of the building has been designed using the geometries create by the site context and the visitor flow. The idea behind this is to strength the relationship between TM1 and TM2. Although I like the design of TM2 and think it will be a great success I am not sure how, in shape the two are related. Keeping the oil tanks and using them, as exhibition space is a great idea. I think it works particularly well as the theme of industry and power generation is continued. It continues that raw feeling, slightly bare and minimal. You get the same kind of feeling from the turbine hall, with the added effect of vastness, its size makes it all that more impressive. To try and replicate this wouldn t work, as its as been there, done that, the original cannot be beaten. Creating another large exhibition space using oil tanks, there is more to it than just a circular room, I think is a great idea. Rounded walls to hang things may not be all that practical, however now that art has developed so much, maybe for the exhibition in this space hanging may not be required and can lead to unusual, but hopefully successful exhibitions. Require people to think out of the box, which is no bad thing. The form of TM2 is quite square, stocky and angular, whereas the form of TM1, for me is more slender and long. Even though the two for me are no related in form, I do not think it is a bad idea. I think you need something different, unique, which will draw people s attention in order to attract the public there, make it an intrigue. This would not be possible if TM2 was the exact replica, it would go unnoticed and would be very unexciting.