Plans for the Royal Academy’s London site are unveiled by Chipperfield (fourth from left); image © Matthew Lloyd/Getty.

The architect shares the inspirations behind his plans to expand the Royal Academy and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

We have become so inured to the idea of the grand cultural project as a catalyst for urban regeneration that there is something almost jarring about the idea of millions being spent on two institutions that sit in some of the most expensive real estate on earth. The Royal Academy (RA), founded in 1768, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, formed about a century later, are the fabric of the arts establishment in London and New York respectively. They have both, in their own ways, struggled slightly to keep up with the wave of money and excitement that has flowed through the art world as contemporary art has exploded across global cities. And they are both attempting to address the subject through expansions by the same architect, David Chipperfield........Continue Reading

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