Jamie Fobert in conversation with Nicholas Cullinan

Enlightening public conversation at the National Portrait Gallery between the director of the gallery and the architecture of the recent refurbishment.

If you follow my blog you might remember that I was a bit sniffy about the reopening of the gallery so it was really helpful to hear this conversation between the director, Nicholas Cullinan, and the architect, Jamie Forbert.

They highlighted some changes which I hadn’t noticed but which might have added to by feeling of confusion, such as the removal of the mezzanine level which used to have a bookshop on it, as well as mentioning some areas I had missed on my first couple of visits and I have subsequently been back to look at.

They talked about how helpful it was to have the original drawings for the design of the building and the thinking behind the new entrance and why it wasn’t on that aspect originally, basically because it would have looked out onto slum housing.

They also highlighted some things I’d not realise about the building such as the fact the Tube runs just 50m below the building and that circulation space has stone floor and galleries have wood.

The talk gave me new insight into the decisions made in the refurbishment but I’m still not convinced by the flow around the building and probably need another visit! 

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