V&A East Museum by O'Donnell + Tuomey unveiled in London
The highly-anticipated V&A East Museum by Irish studio O'Donnell + Tuomey has reached completion in London, with galleries by JA Projects and shops by Studio Mutt.
Clad in concrete panels, the angular, five-storey museum in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will open to the public this Saturday.
O'Donnell + Tuomey designed the building's faceted exterior to distinguish it as the cultural centrepiece of the wider development, which includes the Diller Scofidio + Renfro-designed V&A East Storehouse that opened last year.
O'Donnell + Tuomey co-founder John Tuomey explained the thinking behind the form of the building to Dezeen ahead of the opening.
"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."
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.
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.
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.
It concludes at the temporary exhibition gallery – the largest space in the museum – at the top of the building.
Designed to feel rooted in its east London location, the Why We Make exhibition showcases over 500 design, fashion, art and architecture objects.
"V&A East Museum is shaped by east London – its high streets, its parks, and the ways communities already gather, make and represent themselves," said JA Projects founding director Jayden Ali.
"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.
"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."
Among the pieces on show in Why We Make are designs by British-Nigerian designer Yinka Ilori, architecture collective Assemble, Pakistani architect Yasmeen Lari, British designer Vivienne Westwood and Japanese fashion brand Comme des Garçons.
"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."
"The name of the gallery, Why We Make, speaks to the intention of the gallery – making is a creative practice, not just a hobby."
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.
The museum also contains a pair of shops designed by Studio Mutt on the first and third floors that make use of timber display units on castors.
Other galleries that have recently opened in the UK include a zig-zagging brick museum dedicated to shoemaking and a renovated agricultural building that houses the sculptures of Henry Moore.
The photography is by Hufton + Crow.
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