Landform, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Design, Images, Architect

Landform @ Scottish Gallery of Modern Art

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh, Scotland

Landform Edinburgh

Earthworks by Sir Charles Jencks / Terry Farrell & Partners for SNGMA, Edinburgh, Scotland

Terry Farrell & Partners Architects information : Landform, Scotland

LANDFORM FOR THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL GALLERY OF MODERN ART

Designed by Charles Jencks in collaboration with Terry Farrell & Partners
To mark the completion of the latest phase of Terry Farrell & Partners’ Landscape Masterplan for the Dean Gallery and Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, the opening of the Landform took place on 1 August 2002.
Located on the lawn of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, formerly the playing field of John Watson’s School, the Landform was designed by the architectural critic and author Charles Jencks in collaboration with Terry Farrell & Partners. Comprising a sinuous turfed mound with terraced paths and encompassing three small lakes or lochans, the Landform is an expression of the intervention between Man and landscape dating back to prehistoric times, from which striking evidence is still discernible of earlier cultures and their works.

The forms sculpted from the earth to create the Landform refer to the primal geometries expressed in natural features and phenomena such as waves, ripples, clouds and geological formations, and are described by images derived from Chaos Theory and the fractal geometry which maps it. The Masterplan connecting the two galleries, their parkland and the neighbouring Dean Cemetery and embracing the Water of Leith has now been provided with a contrasting landscape element, acting as a foil to the more formal composition of buildings and planting, and as a setting for sculpture – as well as a work of art in its own right.

Terry Farrell & Partners’ involvement in the project began in 1995 when, upon appointment as architect for the radical conversion of the Dean Orphanage into an art gallery and new headquarters for the National Galleries of Scotland, they suggested the expansion of the project to include the landscape of the new gallery, that of the adjacent Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and other local landscape amenities.

This Masterplan, together with an enhanced design for the interiors, to include air-conditioned galleries, cafe, shop and additional display and interior architecture, was funded by a Heritage Lottery Fund award which Terry Farrell & Partners compiled on the National Galleries of Scotland’s behalf. It was Terry Farrell’s proposal to locate a Landform in the northern part of the lawn of the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, and Charles Jencks, having completed two Landforms at his home in Dumfries, was invited to create a design for this in collaboration with Terry Farrell & Partners.

The Landform constitutes an exciting addition to the National Galleries of Scotland’s Permanent Collection and marks another milestone in the completion of the Masterplan.

Terry Farrell & Partners Architects’ Landform PR Aug 2002

Contact: Terry Farrell & Partners, 7 Hatton St, London 020 7258 3433

Charles Jencks in association with Terry Farrell & Partners
Earthworks: ‘Ueda’ at the SNGMA

Landform, SNGMA
photo © Adrian Welch

completed mid 2002

Scottish Landform

farrell”>Terry Farrell & Co. – refurbishment
Scotland’s National Gallery of Modern Art

SNGMA Edinburgh
photo © Adrian Welch

SNGMA – former John Watson’s School by Burn, 1825, The masterplan involves co-ordinated sculptures, landscaping. etc.

Terry Farrell & Co. – refurbishment
Dean Gallery, 73 Belford Road, 1999

Refurbishment of former Orphanage by Hamilton, 1833. Farrell was also responsible for the recent masterplan for both this building and the adjacent Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art – SNGMA

Kelvingrove Art Gallery

Glasgow Gallery of Modern Art

Architecture Competition

Comments / photos for the Landform, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Edinburgh Architecture page welcome

Landform Scotland SNGMA : page