V&A East Storehouse
I remember so clearly waking up early morning to the press photos of this new museum in East London at the end of May. I was very excited to see it for myself. Instead of reading the press reviews, I waited until visiting the new V&A extension in Stratford to make up my own opinion and share it with you.
Before I deep dive into V&A East Storehouse experience, I would like to share a bit of background information with you. I remember the two graduate courses at Sabanci University I studied when it comes to academic museum research. The two courses were about curating, museum studies, archival conservation and sociological value of museums. I had my opinions after reading numerous articles about what museums stand for and whether objects in these collections are left in these spaces to be forgotten.
The word ‘museum’ comes from ‘muse’ and has a strong connection to Greek mythology. When we look at the architecture of The Met, The British Museum and The Louvre, these buildings have the style of a Greek temple or a palace where knowledge is on an elevated status. Collections and archival systems carries ideologies, decided by people with a certain authority for a certain type of an audience. For a long time, these spaces were unfortunately not accessible to general public.
I mostly grow up with this concept of a museum where you walk in, stand in front of 300+ artworks and spend long hours reading heavy worded wall texts. Towards the end, before the exit to the gift shop, I would be mentally and physically drained. Visitors are only allowed to behave in a certain way, sometimes stuck in slow paced group tours, and only whispering when an opinion needs to be expressed. These exhibition halls continue one after another, sometimes with a bench in front of a large artwork, usually with a single entrance and an exit door in a long corridor. Displayed artworks hung at a certain height and limited to a specific viewing distance are usually images one might have seen from art history books. The whole experience feels a bit disconnected from the contemporary world. Nowadays, some museums have updated their collections with more inclusive artists and trying to be more responsive to the current events.
Surely there are more dynamic museums and exhibitions but in a traditional sense, when someone asks me to go to a museum, this is the experience it pops in my memory. I enjoy strolling through Tate Modern if I am meeting a friend or having a quick stroll to the Natural History Museum to see the gemstone archives. One does not need to spend endless hours visiting these places if you live locally. Yet, these spaces still have a more traditional approach to artwork display and relationship to their audience.
Last two times I was in the Stratford area was 2015 during a school project with RCA at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and 2020 to visit the world’s first zero-waste restaurant Silo. During my first visit, Olympic park was still new and fresh. It was 3 years later since London hosted the Olympics. As a newbie London resident, I was mind blown with the Aquatic Center by Zaha Hadid and ArcelorMittal Orbit by Anish Kapoor. Stratford area was brand new, still edgy at the Hackney Wick side. The second visit was a bit different. Silo was the new hip & cool restaurant as we had a fine dining experience. The overground station was extended into a brutalist style concrete structure. There were more new buildings and the whole area felt a bit more gentrified.
As for the V&A East Storehouse, on a lovely Friday afternoon last week, we decided to spend the day there. It was an easy commute with the Overground to Hackney Wick station. We arrived to a completely transformed neighbourhood. We followed ground marks to HERE East building, where V&A is located. I struggled to recognise this area where I visited last 5 years ago. V&A was inside this new contemporary building, quite different then the temple-like museum buildings. A museum staff welcomed us for a short introduction as we walked in.
The welcome staff described V&A as a working museum, a dynamic archive and a place to interact with collections. We were asked to lock all our belongings to a small free locker before entering the collections room. Once this part was done, we walked up the stairs, went through double doors to get inside the main collections room. This liminal space felt like an airlock where you leave the real world behind and enter a time capsule of objects of curiosity. The museum feels as a full-scale cabinet of curiosity or a doll-house where a visitor integrates inside this display space. It also feels a bit like a IKEA depot as the shelves are stacked upon each other, with furniture and large items are on display on eye-level. There are not that many glass panels, almost no dividers to get in between the viewer and the objects. We were not allowed to touch any of these display objects but I was very tempted. Everything feels within an arms reach which I really enjoyed.
There are about half a million objects inside this museum. Not all of them are on display. Some can be viewed upon appointment requests in the archives room which is visible to the visitors from the display platforms. I tried to understand the archival system on the collections. It felt a bit random when a Victorian chair was next to contemporary ceramic cups, followed by a series of comic books and a external façade of Robin Hood Gardens social housing. By following the index numerical system and QR codes, there is definitely a system but not a traditional one which most visitors are used to in museums. There are lot of detailed elements and description on archival systems, display setups and materials of the museum at some parts. Usually artworks or artefacts are categorised by era, material or a certain art movement. V&A East was using a different system.
Kaufmann office by Frank Llyod Wright
One of the most memorable piece was the Kaufmann office by Frank Llyod Wright. It reminded me of the Pergamon Altar in Berlin that was taken away from its original location, transported and stored in parts, rebuilt inside the museum. It was an uncanny experience seeing an architectural piece within a different space.
I have seen other Frank lloyd Wright designs in Chicago inside their original spaces. It was enjoyable yet unusual to see a whole office inside a museum this time. The carefully designed and manufactured work space was given to the museum’s archives. It was protected by the V&A since 1974 until it was rebuilt inside this museum for visitor’s experience. It showed an impressive dedication to conservation and future plans of what needs to be protected.
Frankfurt Kitchen (1920s) designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky
A second piece was the Frankfurt Kitchen (1920s) designed by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky. I learned about system design integrated into objects and spaces while studying this kitchen layout during a design history course. It was incredible to see it in person on full scale.
Robin Hood Gardens project on the right
I remember very clearly about the Robin Hood Gardens project from the Venice Biennale 2018 at the UK pavilion. The social housing which once used to host many residents was decaying and facing demolition. The V&A East has external parts from this residential complex along with some internal structures and carefully documented video piece by Do Ho Suh. The archive covers multiple layers of London history and interdisciplinary study of archival materials.
The museum also has some impressive spaces which are open to public such as the archives and the restoration rooms. These spaces which are usually hidden away from public visitors are open to viewing from above on a platform and accessible by appointments. The museum not only contains the artworks and artifacts but creates a dynamic interaction through transparency with visitors and staff.
The foyer also is a public space where beautiful textiles are accessible through drawers next to one of London’s best bakeries. E5 Bakehosue is the museum’s cafe for tasty cookies and refreshments. Usually, the museum cafes are noisy, over-crowded and the food is not very interesting. Having a local good bakery makes this space more inviting for people who just want to have a quick inspiration visit on their lunch break. The foyer turns into a pleasant space to spend time and possibly also to some work.
Overall, going back to the question, ‘If museums are spaces, where artworks were sent to be forgotten?’ V&A East Storehouse challenges this opinion. With a contemporary building, designed for efficiency and transparency, the visitors are enticed for learning and inspired for creativity. As this was my first visit there, I am sure that it won’t be the last. I highly recommend spending a bit of time there with your camera and sketchbook.
V&A East Store House
Parkes Street, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Hackney Wick, London, E20 3AX
Opening times
Daily: 10.00 – 18.00
Thursday and Saturday: 10.00 – 22.00
Admission is free