In pictures: A touch of Tokyo-on-Tay wins design contest

Published on Wednesday 3 November 2010 17:21

IT MAY not have won the people's vote. But a striking design by one of Japan's leading architects has emerged as the unanimous winner of an international competition to shape the landmark outpost of the Victoria and Albert Museum in Dundee.

• 'The Guggenheim of Dundee' will fuel a renaissance in the city, it is predicted

The design jury panel claim the spectacular building, designed by Japanese architectural practice Kengo Kuma & Associates, has the potential to become one of the top dozen iconic structures in the world.

And they are convinced that the "exciting and dynamic" 45 million building will have the same impact on Dundee as Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum had on Bilbao. The futuristic facility transformed the Spanish city's fortunes when it was built there.

• Profile: Professor on a mission to marry traditional design with 21st-century 'light and nature'

• In pictures: The six designs proposed for Dundee museum

The Dundee design by Kengo Kuma was one of six shortlisted in the competition for the new V&A building which is to be constructed on a promontory in the River Tay, at the heart of the city's waterfront regeneration.

The Japanese design, a lattice-like structure reminiscent of a ship's bow, came second in a public vote, narrowly behind a glass-dominated "Bluebell" design by American architectural company Rex.

One Scottish firm, Edinburgh-based Sutherland Hussey Architects, made it to the final six on the shortlist with a modern take on the traditional Scottish crannog or hill fort.

Last night, Scotland's main architectural institute rejected suggestions that the failure of a locally based company to secure the prestigious contract meant that Scottish design was in the doldrums.

Neil Baxter, the secretary of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS), recently launched a blistering attack on Scottish Enterprise, accusing the agency of effectively excluding Scotland's top architects from an international design competition to transform Aberdeen's Union Terrace Gardens.

But he said yesterday: "I sincerely believe that we have the architectural talent in Scotland to compete with best in the world at the moment.

But, that said, we have always been an outward-looking nation and we cannot expect to export Scottish talent in architecture and design - which we do very successfully - and not equally welcome in creativity from abroad.

"As far as the quality of designers and capability that we have currently in Scotland, I would say that we have in recent years enjoyed a fantastic design renaissance; a quite extraordinary flowering of Scottish talent."

Lesley Knox, the chair of the V&A at Dundee project, who headed the jury, revealed that the winning design had been the unanimous choice of the eight-member panel. And she said: "I think this is a building that will be both timeless and put both the waterfront and Dundee on the map forever.

"Kengo Kuma's proposal demonstrates a clear understanding of the city, offers a new experience of the river, and will be as exciting internally as it will be externally.

"This is a building that, even if it's wet and windy, you will get as big a buzz when you are inside as if you are outside."

Mike Galloway, the director of city development at Dundee City Council and another member of the jury panel, said the construction of the V&A outpost would spark a huge investment in Dundee's continued regeneration.

He said: "I think this building will act as a symbol. It is a real lynchpin of our whole economic strategy. And the important thing is that it is deliverable within our budget."

Graeme Hutton, the dean of the School of Architecture at Dundee University, was equally enthusiastic. He declared: "In terms of iconic buildings, it is going to be in the top dozen in the world.

"It is all the things that we were looking for, but in a very sophisticated way."

Ken Guild, the leader of Dundee City Council, said he was "absolutely thrilled".

"It's absolutely stunning and a tremendous choice for Dundee," he said.

"Folk will flock to Dundee to see it. It is definitely going to have the Guggenheim effect on the city."