On Wednesday, London’s National Gallery announced plans to raise nearly $1 billion for Project Domani, the institution’s new initiative to collect art from the 20th and 21st centuries, along with a new wing to house that part of the collection.
As part of Project Domani, the National Gallery held an international architectural competition to design the new wing, receiving 65 entrants. On Wednesday, the institution announced the six short-listed architects, which includes Farshid Moussavi Architecture with Piercy & Company, Foster + Partners, Kengo Kuma and Associates, Renzo Piano Building Workshop with Williams Matthews Associates and Adamson Associates, Selldorf Architects with Purcell, and Studio Seilern Architects with Donald Insall Associates, Vista Building Safety Ltd, and Ralph Appelbaum Associates. The winner of the competition will be announced in April.
The new wing will be built on the last remaining unbuilt portion of the institution’s campus at 30 Orange Street.
So far about half of the required funds have been raised, with £150 million pledged by Crankstart, a charity founded by Michael Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman, £150 million from the Julia Rausing Trust, and then an additional £75 million from the National Gallery Trust, John Booth, the institution’s chair of trustees, and other donors.
The Art Newspaper reported that the remaining £375 million to be raised is earmarked for post-1900 acquisitions and to create an endowment fund to cover the operating expenses for the new wing.
Booth framed Project Domani was a critical addition for the museum to stand out against competitors. “Project Domani will bolster the significance of both the National Gallery and the UK within a highly competitive international cultural landscape,” Booth said in a statement.
The new wing is projected to open in the early 2030s.
