Gallery of Collective Perceptions: A Redesign for City Gallery

Abstract

As a redesign for City Gallery Wellington, the 'Gallery of Collective Perceptions' was conceived as a critical reflection of Civic Square, the iconic urban site which the gallery faces and significantly helps to define. The prominent role of Civic Square is to bring together art, literature, music, performance, education and government – all 'collected' in one public place and thereby integrating a multiplicity of public perceptions. This design research investigation challenges the interior of the City Gallery to take on this civic role as well, to act not only as a gallery of art, but also as a 'Gallery of Collective Perceptions'. The neoclassical formality of the original historic building is reconfirmed by the axial arrival sequence of the new interior, but the internal spaces to the east and west shift in relation to the central axis in reflection of shifting contemporary paradigms. A prominent cube is suspended on axis directly in front of the open reception lobby, symbolically representing the prominent role of City Gallery in relation to the open Civic Square. This cube hovers at a central point, defining the internal public gathering area as an inner sacred space capable of encapsulating collective perceptions, views and experiences of visitors as they are collected within. Collective perceptions are mutable. In this design investigation, dialogues of light and shadow reflect this mutability, embracing themes of the 'temporary collector' and the act of 'temporary perceptions'. The exhibition wing to the west of the main gathering area acts as a 'Gallery of Light'. Natural and artificial light entering the 'Gallery of Light' through its architectural portals facilitate the display of traditional physical art – painting, sculpture, etc. The exhibition wing to the east of the main gathering area acts as a 'Gallery of Shadows'. The 'Gallery of Shadows' is defined spatially by walls within walls, facilitating the display of contemporary digital media within the shadows. Traditional physical art and contemporary virtual art are collected in inner sanctuaries, separate archives never to touch, as one embraces the light and the other its shadow. The central gathering area acts as a critical threshold between the light and the dark. A series of arches leading from the entry to the hovering cube casts lines of both shadow and light. Beneath the cube and partially hidden from view is the final receptacle of collection, the public lecture theatre. This theatre acts as a temporary archive of the people, gathering their presence as collective individuals within the architectural form. Light, shadow, people and art are all collected temporarily, though cycles of time, in the 'Gallery of Collective Perceptions'.