The Hepworth Wakefield by David Chipperfield Architects
The Hepworth Wakefield gallery designed by David Chipperfield Architects opens today to the public this Saturday. With 10 naturally-lit exhibition rooms, the gallery in Yorkshire is the largest purpose-built space for art in the UK and will display over 40 works by sculptor Barbara Hepworth (1903-1975), who lived locally.
The building is composed of a grouping of trapezoidal blocks and also contains learning studios, an auditorium, an archive, and a café and shop.
The gallery is accessed via a new pedestrian bridge across the River Calder, next to which the building is situated.
The Hepworth Wakefield confirms Yorkshire as a centre for sculpture
The Hepworth Wakefield, designed by David Chipperfield Architects, opens to the public on Saturday 21 May 2011, putting the spotlight on Yorkshire as a world centre for sculpture, together with Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Henry Moore Institute and Leeds Art Gallery.
Named after Barbara Hepworth, who was born in Wakefield in 1903 and lived there with her family until the age of 18, with 5,000 square metres of gallery space, The Hepworth Wakefield is the largest purpose-built art gallery to open in Britain since the Hayward on London’s Southbank in 1968, and provides a permanent public legacy for the artist in her home city.
The gallery site has been developed at a cost of £35 million as part of the £100 million regeneration of Waterfront Wakefield. It includes the restoration of former mill and warehouse buildings, the development of new residential, office and leisure facilities, and outdoor landscaping with a new pedestrian bridge. The gallery is funded by founding partners Wakefield Council and The Hepworth Estate; major funders Arts Council England and Heritage Lottery Fund with additional funding from European Regional Development Fund, Homes and Communities Agency and Yorkshire Forward.
Source: Dezeen
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