New images and drone video have been released for Kengo Kuma-designed V&A Dundee Museum, as the building is almost complete and set to open on September 15, 2018 in Dundee.

The V&A Dundee Museum announced that the opening of the museum will mark Scotland with a free two-day festival of design, music and performance on Friday 14 September and Saturday 15 September.

Video courtesy of V&A Dundee

The name of the building pays homage to Dundee, design and the city’s spirit of discovery. The festival will take place against the backdrop of the of the new V&A Dundee building in the city’s waterfront park, Slessor Gardens. 

The V&A Dundee will be Scotland’s first national museum of design, and it is the first V&A's museum that is opened outside London. Designed by the acclaimed Japanese architect, Kengo Kuma, the new museum has been developed on a spectacular waterfront site overlooking the River Tay in the heart of Dundee. 

The Museum will be open to all, featuring displays the best of Scottish design from all periods, as well as a programme of exhibitions, and an extensive education programme.  

The building is composed of 2,500 cast stone panels now hung on the walls, giving a curve both vertically and horizontally. Kuma's £1 billion transformation (over $111 million USD) is located along the waterfront in the city of Dundee, once part of the city's docklands. 

Taking cues from the city's dramatic cliffs along the east coast of Scotland, the museum stretches out into the River Tay – a new landmark reconnecting the city with its historic waterfront, and a major new cultural development for Scotland and the UK.

At the heart of V&A Dundee, the Scottish Design Galleries will present the story of Scotland’s exceptional and international design heritage. 

Curated in collaboration with the V&A, these galleries will be free to enter and feature around 300 exhibits drawn from the remarkable collections of the V&A, as well as from museums and private collections across Scotland and the world, covering architecture, ceramics, engineering, fashion, furniture, healthcare, jewellery, textiles, videogame design and more.

The façade of the museum is covered by a distinguishing panel feature - each weighing between 1.5 and 2.5 tonnes, inspired by the cliffs of Scotland’s coastline. 

Speaking about the progress of construction ahead of openning this year, Kuma said: "my inspiration always starts from the place where the project will be. In the past I visited Scotland many times, this very beautiful country, and I’m truly in love with the Scottish landscape and nature."

"I really hope that, once finished, this project will attract many people from the UK, and around the world, to the city and the museum. I hope as well that people from Dundee will use it as an everyday part of their city, that they will go there to enjoy the building with its surrounding public space and find a harmonious relationship between the museum, the riverside, the city and themselves."

All images © Rapid Visual Media, courtesy of V&A Dundee

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