3 December 2008

The new National Portrait Gallery

| Holden Caulfield
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[First filed: December 01, 2008 @ 14:20]

The new National Portrait Gallery opens soon.

There’s a preview for members tonight and a media day on Wednesday. I don’t fall into either of those groups but have been driving past the site pretty much every weekday during its construction.

I reckon the building looks pretty cool and would love to hear any inside gossip or info about the move to the new location.

For more info visit portrait.gov.au

UPDATED: HC has sent in some pictures of the NPG. Slideshow below:

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Liberal governments have always been more active in ‘building’ Canberra, especially under Menzies and Howard.

Under Howard we had the Australian National Museum and National Portrait Galley constructed, plus major funding boosts/redevelopments to the War Memorial and other national buildings.

Some simplistic people would believe that having a PM ‘live’ in Canberra is more important than developing our city.

And if I had a choice between living on Sydney Harbour and at the Lodge I know where I would choose.

Holden Caulfield8:34 am 04 Dec 08

Hmm, that’s a bit of an issue. Are window films with UV protection a possibility I wonder?

blueberry said :

>Lots of lovely natural UV light fading all those priceless portraits! Oops!

From the clip i was watching about this on ABC the other night I think they actually designed the building to let in as much natural light as possible beacuse natural light is more true then artificial light and it makes the paintings look better. One would think that they put so much effort in to using natural light then they probably took into account the UV and put some kind of UV filter in the glass.

Er, no. Even with all the fancy filters on the glass, they were still getting lux readings way above the maximum safe levels.

Quite an occasion! But Rudd’s speech was as boring as b*tsh*t. Insufferable. People started coughing after a while. He really needs a speechwriter. I think a couple of captains of industry were about to start clapping in an attempt to wind him up. He acknowledged that the Howard Government deserves credit for the Gallery.

Thank’s Howard Government once again your your vision for Canberra and Australia.

No doubt that Menzies and Howard were Canberra’s biggest supporters.

Is this supposed to be sarcastic? Remember this was the PM who wouldn’t even live here.

>Lots of lovely natural UV light fading all those priceless portraits! Oops!

From the clip i was watching about this on ABC the other night I think they actually designed the building to let in as much natural light as possible beacuse natural light is more true then artificial light and it makes the paintings look better. One would think that they put so much effort in to using natural light then they probably took into account the UV and put some kind of UV filter in the glass.

Is that Bill Leak show on the ABC an effort at getting some pictures to put on the walls?

Thank’s Howard Government once again your your vision for Canberra and Australia.

No doubt that Menzies and Howard were Canberra’s biggest supporters.

Holden Caulfield12:02 pm 03 Dec 08

Thanks for adding the pics johnboy. I forgot about the slideshow thingys you do, I should have sent you a couple more. Never mind, these ones do the job.

Interesting building. I’ll check it out on the weekend when I go to the Terribly British car show nearby on Sunday.

Mr Evil, I believe Old Parliament House has moved to PM&C control from Arts, and will be the earnest & worthy Gallery of Australian Democracy pretty much all over …

So what happens with the space at Old Parliament House now that the Portrait Gallery has moved on?

Holden Caulfield6:45 pm 02 Dec 08

I’ve sent a few images to johnboy, and with any luck he’ll include them in here.

Holden Caulfield11:49 am 02 Dec 08

No probs. I’ll be more diligent on my drive home this arvo and grab a picture or two.

Ah cool. Cheers Holden.

Holden Caulfield11:30 am 02 Dec 08

H1NG0, follow this link, you can also access more pre-construction com gen imagery as well if stuff around for a bit…
http://www.portrait.gov.au/exhibit/design/win.htm

This article is useless without photos

Holden Caulfield10:03 am 02 Dec 08

Did anyone go to the preview last night? Looked like quite a crowd building as I drove past at about 5:45 on the way home from work yesterday afternoon.

stereo henry8:11 pm 01 Dec 08

in not i 🙂

stereo henry8:11 pm 01 Dec 08

the amount of light i each of the gallery spaces can be manipulated through a very clever electronic blind system that can take the room from sunlit to quite dark very quickly

i thought the whole point of the large flat rooves was to harvest water. so an architects’ info session i attended told me…

sheesh, so much for that – do they have an abundance already? mebbe they should get a feed-in tarrif!

Was there on Friday evening for the “Family & Friends” night.
Very impressive building.
However, I’ve heard some grumbling about there being far too much natural light in some spaces, hence all of the big curtains over a lot of the windows. Lots of lovely natural UV light fading all those priceless portraits! Oops!
And I’m glad I got inside before the storm hit because the rain pouring off the roof at the main entrance was a solid sheet of water. My advice would be, if you’re planning on heading down for a look see, ensure you take a very large umbrella if there is even a slight chance of rain!
The cafe isn’t too bad either.

It sounds beautiful, stereo henry! I am keen to see it now.

: )

Holden Caulfield3:04 pm 01 Dec 08

That’s awesome henry, thanks for your reply. Looks like there is a cafe with a balcony at the Lake Burley Griffin end of the building, which, I imagine will be a nice place to be.

Just heard during a break in the cricket that the public opening is on Thursday.

stereo henry2:59 pm 01 Dec 08

I went in a couple of weeks ago; the interior and exterior of the building, in my humble opinion, is amazing.

The interior is warm and welcoming, drawing inspirations from shearing sheds and the australian landscape, whilst embracing a modernist exterior. They’ve also introduced a lot natural light (often missing in national institutions), which adds to the ‘feel’ of the place.

I particularly liked the understated interior and the use of a variety of Australian timbers against a stark white background (the parquetry in the main hall is particularly beautiful) – i would live in the gallery, if only they’d let me!

I think the architect and design team have created an amazing building that will be the envy of Australia.

I know this reads like I’m affiliated with the gallery in some way. I am not. I am just impressed by our new National Portrait Gallery!

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