About the Building &
New Indigenous galleries and entrance project

Introduction | History | Original architect's statement | Essay | Sculpture Garden
Media statements: Statement 1 | Statement 2

 

Historical overview

The opening of the National Gallery of Australia building in 1982 concluded a planning, design and construction period of fourteen years. In 1968, the government announced a limited competition to establish an approach to the design of a national gallery in Canberra, inviting thirteen Australian architectural firms to submit proposals for a building to be completed in the early 1970s. The Sydney firm, Edwards Madigan Torzillo and Partners won the competition, with a design by the senior partner of the firm, Colin Madigan, leading the team of Christopher Kringas, Renato Giacco and Michael Rolfe.

Originally the design concept had been developed for a national gallery on Capital Hill, not beside Lake Burley Griffin. A proposal for a National Centre, promulgated in 1963 by the authority for Canberra, the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC), had suggested a Capital Hill location for the gallery with other national institutions and a central lakeside site for the new Parliament House.1 The National Gallery’s ultimate lakeside position was not decided until May 1970 after lengthy debate concerning the sighting of Parliament House – which was finally located at the summit of Capital Hill. At its lakeside site, the Gallery forms part of the Parliamentary Triangle, with Parliament House symbolically at the apex, the National Library of Australia within the northwest point, and the High Court of Australia and the National Gallery of Australia within the northeast point at the base of the triangle.

A design brief for the National Gallery at this new location was given to the architects who developed the detailed building program during the latter part of 1970 and early 1971, with extensive input from consultant J.J. Sweeney and the Gallery’s founding Director, James Mollison.2 Sketch plans were approved in April 1971 by the Gallery’s interim council, the NCDC and the government. On 8 November 1973 a plaque marking the start of construction was unveiled by then Prime Minister Gough Whitlam,3 with the expectation that the Gallery would be completed by 1976.4

Edwards, Madigan, Torzillo and Partners had also designed the adjacent High Court of Australia. Both buildings form a powerful grouping of sculptural, yet functional elements that visually balance the composition of other major structures within the Parliamentary Triangle. They were to form an integral part of a proposed National Place linking them to the National Library via elevated pedestrian walkways and a vast public square.5 The only completed part of this plan is the pedestrian overpass between the National Gallery and High Court buildings. The area is now the site of Commonwealth Place and Reconciliation Place, opened in July 2002.

A combination of diminished capital project funding and a government priority for the completion of the High Court by 1980 meant that construction of the Gallery was temporarily halted in 1975, and would not be completed until October 1981. The building, which was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 12 October 1982, won the Royal Australian Institute of Architects (ACT) Canberra Medallion in 1982 and is listed on the Commonwealth Heritage List and the Register of the National Estate.

Notes

1 The National Centre design was prepared for the NCDC by William Holford & Partners of London. See Roger Johnson, ‘The siting and design of the building’, in James Mollison and Laura Murray (eds), Australia National Gallery: an Introduction, Canberra: Australian National Gallery, 1982, pp. 19–28.
2 James Johnson Sweeney, consultant to the NCDC on the Gallery project, was formerly the founding Director of the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum New York, and Director of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas. He made several influential visits to Canberra. James Mollison was appointed Acting Director of the Gallery in 1971 and Director in 1977.
3The plaque is located at ground level, under the walkway between the National Gallery and High Court buildings.
4 The builder was PDC Constructions (ACT), a subsidiary of White Industries Ltd, under the supervision of the NCDC.
5 The 400 square metre National Place, proposed in 1971 by Roger Johnson, chief architect of the NCDC, was abandoned in 1975.

 

Stage 1: Indigenous galleries and new entrance project

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In December 2006, the Australian Government announced that it would provide funding to enhance and extend the National Gallery of Australia’s building.

The project cost for Stage 1 amounts to $92.9 million, which includes $20 million for refurbishment of the original building that is nearing completion.

Designed by Mr. Andrew Andersons AM, PTW Architects, Stage 1 will address a range of pressing needs in relation to the Gallery building, including improving arrival and entry facilities, compliance with contemporary building codes and legislative requirements and enhancing collection display space, particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and visitor amenities.

Stage 1 will provide a new, more visible and accessible ground level entrance to the south of the building, facing the current surface car park. The new entrance area will have escalators to and from the public spaces on the main level and a lift will provide unassisted access to and from the underground visitor car park.

The entrance area will have new visitor cloaking and reception facilities and a new enhanced Gallery shop. An adjacent ground level multifunction space will be created for orientation and programs, openings and special events, and will open onto a newly created Australian Garden. At the new ground level entrance there will be a specially created area for the 1988 Aboriginal Memorial, one of the most important works of art in the national collection. Appropriately, this impressive sculptural installation will be the first work of art visitors will see as they enter the Gallery.

Above the new multifunction space and associated areas, there will be new galleries for Indigenous Australian art that will connect to the existing galleries on the main level. Each of these new galleries will be designed to accommodate the needs of specific types of Indigenous art, with areas for small early dot paintings, large galleries for larger dot paintings, spaces for bark paintings, and for watercolours, textiles, prints, ceramics and sculptures. The main galleries will be sky-lit, apart from those areas intended for the display of light-sensitive works such as textiles, baskets and watercolours. These will be the first galleries in Australia designed around the specific needs of displaying different aspects of Indigenous Australian art.

Sydney Nolan’s Ned Kelly series will be displayed in the space currently occupied by the shop so that Gallery visitors will experience these iconic popular works as they enter the main level.

Other key elements of Stage 1 include:

Fit out of the undercroft to the temporary exhibitions galleries for relocated and dedicated art packing, framing, storage and administrative facilities including dedicated quarantine inspection and treatment spaces.

New separated loading docks, and movement routes for works of art and general goods.

Improved landscaping and external works with water features that incorporate environmentally responsible water management systems.

In addition, to be included in the new Australian Garden is a significant external “Skyspace” installation sculpture designed by renowned US artist James Turrell.

The Gallery is extremely pleased that construction is commencing on the long awaited and much needed Stage 1: Indigenous galleries and new entrance project. Construction of Stage 1 is forecast to commence in September 2007, and be completed late in 2009.

Through careful planning and staging, the Gallery will remain open to the public during the entire construction period.

Stage 1 has been designed in a manner, which readily allows the later construction of Stage Two.

 

Stage 2: Centre of Australian Art

The Gallery will commence planning for Stage 2: Centre of Australian Art in late 2007.

It is intended that Stage 2 will include a much enlarged display area for Australian Art (non-Indigenous) on the principal level, and will include art from the Pacific. The Centre of Australian Art will provided unique publicly accessible storage for viewing works on paper, textiles, etc and an accessible art library.

 

Original architect

The Gallery is committed to presenting the national collection of art, together with exhibitions, education and public programs and to providing facilities that exceed our visitors’ expectations, particularly for those visitors with special needs, such as people with disabilities. The Gallery also acknowledges its role as custodian of a significant, heritage listed public building and sculpture garden.

To maintain this commitment, the Gallery building must be extended and enhanced to better serve its visitors by removing barriers to access and to meet the challenges of an increased collection of works of art.

The Gallery acknowledges and thanks Mr. Colin Madigan AO the principal design architect (original architect) for the original building for his continuing contribution and appreciates his constructive comments on the project to extend the Gallery’s building.