Tate Modern gets the go ahead to expand

Only opened in May 2000, Tate Modern was London’s most visited tourist attraction last year with 4.9 million people going in to take a look at the national collection of modern art.

The building is the converted former Bankside power station and now Southwark Council have given planning permission for a £215million, 23,000 sqm, 11 storey glass extension on the building’s western side.

I know its hard to tell from computer mockup photos but I’m not overly impressed with the design that’s been chosen. The old power station doesn’t give the designers much to work with but this looks like they’ve gone inside and copied one of the modern art pieces and tacked it onto the outside. The architects are the Swiss company Herzog and de Meuron who designed the Allianz Arena in Munich which looks fantastic and the currently being constructed Beiijing Olympic stadium, known as the birds nest, which looks a bit of a mess and not pleasing on the eye.

I think when the Tate extension is finished its going to be one of those structures that people either love or hate, and they’ll be a few more of those going up in London in the next few years.