Tate Modern
The Bankside Power Station stood silent for nearly two decades before its transformation into Tate Modern. Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed the original structure between 1947 and 1963, creating a long steel-framed building with brick cladding and a massive central chimney. The facility closed in 1981, leaving developers to consider demolition of the site. Campaigners fought to save the industrial landmark, but an application to list the building was initially refused.
In April 1994, the Tate Gallery announced that Bankside would become the home for the new Tate Modern. An international competition launched the following month selected Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron as winning architects in January 1995. The £134 million conversion project began in June 1995 and finished by January 2000. Carillion carried out the physical construction work while preserving much of the original internal structure.
The Queen officially opened the gallery on the 11th of May 2000. Visitors flocked to the space immediately, with 5.25 million people attending during the first year alone. This figure doubled the combined attendance of all three existing Tate galleries from the previous year. The Turbine Hall retained its overhead travelling crane, maintaining the industrial character within the new cultural institution.
Plans to expand Tate Modern had been developing since 2004 due to higher than expected visitor numbers. The southern third of the building remained owned by EDF Energy as an electrical substation until 2006 when they released the western half for redevelopment. Structural engineering firm Ramboll worked between 2008 and 2016 on the complex geotechnical challenges involved.
The extension project initially cost £215 million, funded through multiple sources including £50 million from the UK government and £7 million from the London Development Agency. Philanthropist John Studzinski contributed £6 million, while donations came from the Sultanate of Oman and Elisabeth Murdoch. International shipping magnate Eyal Ofer pledged £10 million in June 2013, bringing funding to 85% completion.
Herzog & de Meuron redesigned the tower after initial controversy over a glass stepped pyramid proposal. They replaced it with a sloping façade featuring brick latticework matching the original power station. The ten-storey tower opened to the public on the 17th of June 2016. In May 2017, Sir Leonard Blavatnik received formal recognition as the building was renamed the Blavatnik Building following his substantial contribution to the £260 million total cost.
Tate Modern houses works created from or after 1900, forming the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art. Levels 2, 3, and 4 contain gallery space split into east and west wings with at least 11 rooms each. The Boiler House displays art from 1900 to the present day while the Switch House shows work from 1960 onward.
The main collection displays consist of eight areas organized by named themes rather than chronological order. As of June 2016 these included Start Display, Artist and Society, In The Studio, Materials and Objects, Media Networks, Between Object and Architecture, Performer and Participant, and Living Cities. An additional area dedicated to the Artist Rooms collection complements these thematic groupings.
Initial hanging arrangements from 2000 to 2006 featured four groupings: History/Memory/Society, Nude/Action/Body, Landscape/Matter/Environment, and Still Life/Object/Real Life. A first rehang in May 2006 shifted focus toward pivotal moments of twentieth-century art instead of broad thematic categories. Subsequent rearrangements continued this approach through 2012, introducing spaces for shorter exhibitions between the main wings.
The Turbine Hall spans five storeys with 3,400 square metres of floorspace, originally housing electricity generators before becoming a venue for large-scale commissions. From 2000 until 2012, corporate sponsor Unilever funded the series with £4.4 million total including a renewal deal worth £2.2 million agreed in 2008. Artists who exhibited during this period included Louise Bourgeois, Juan Muñoz, Anish Kapoor, and Olafur Eliasson.
In 2013, Tate Modern signed a sponsorship deal worth around £5 million with Hyundai covering a ten-year program of commissions. This represented the largest amount ever provided to an individual gallery or museum in the United Kingdom at that time. The Hyundai series began with Mexican artist Abraham Cruzvillegas displaying Empty Lot from October 2015 to April 2016.
Notable installations included Ai Weiwei's Sunflower Seeds filling the hall with millions of porcelain seeds and Tania Bruguera's 10,148,451 featuring live participants. When no series ran, the space hosted occasional events like Damien Hirst's For The Love of God in 2011 or Kraftwerk performances in February 2013 that crashed ticket systems.
The COVID-19 pandemic closed the museum for 173 days during 2020, causing attendance to plunge by 77 percent to 1,432,991 visitors. Recovery proved strong in 2022 when 3,883,160 people visited, making it the third most visited institution in Britain and fourth-most visited art museum globally according to The Art Newspaper data from March 2023.
Blackfriars station sits 550 yards away as the nearest railway and Underground stop. Orange lamposts guide visitors from Southwark tube station to the gallery entrance. Bankside Pier provides riverboat connections to Docklands, Greenwich, and Tate Britain via regular passenger services.
Lars Nittve served as Director from 1998 until 2001, establishing early strategic direction before the official opening. Vicente Todolí led the institution from 2003 to 2010, followed by Chris Dercon who directed from 2010 to 2016. Frances Morris took over leadership from 2016 through 2023, overseeing major expansion projects including the Switch
House completion.
Karin Hindsbo assumed the director role in 2023, continuing the succession of leaders shaping the museum's evolution. Each director influenced how collections were displayed and which exhibitions received priority funding. The Board manages governance while individual directors set curatorial vision for their respective tenures.
Protest movements emerged since 2010 when Liberate Tate demanded disengagement from BP sponsorship due to environmental concerns. Artists occupied the building for 25 hours in June 2015 to highlight climate change impacts. These actions reflected ongoing tensions between institutional funding sources and activist demands for ethical responsibility within the art world.
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Common questions
When did Tate Modern officially open to the public?
The Queen officially opened the gallery on the 11th of May 2000. Visitors flocked to the space immediately, with 5.25 million people attending during the first year alone.
Who designed the original Bankside Power Station that became Tate Modern?
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott designed the original structure between 1947 and 1963. The facility closed in 1981 before campaigners fought to save the industrial landmark from demolition.
How much did the extension project for Tate Modern cost?
The extension project initially cost £215 million and reached a total cost of £260 million following contributions from various donors. International shipping magnate Eyal Ofer pledged £10 million in June 2013 to bring funding to 85% completion.
What is the current name of the tower at Tate Modern?
In May 2017, Sir Leonard Blavatnik received formal recognition as the building was renamed the Blavatnik Building. This renaming followed his substantial contribution to the £260 million total cost of the expansion.
When did the COVID-19 pandemic close Tate Modern and how many visitors attended in 2022?
The COVID-19 pandemic closed the museum for 173 days during 2020, causing attendance to plunge by 77 percent to 1,432,991 visitors. Recovery proved strong in 2022 when 3,883,160 people visited, making it the third most visited institution in Britain.