Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 7 : Debate on New Art Gallery and Cultural Centre, 1970-1976

~"CHITICT IOIIN GIBSON ponders the shape of -~hings to come on the site pre~orl'ng fo; the new Queensland art gallery,. the atea to be used for. the gallery is divided by the Stanley Street freeway. The river ·frontage will ' b~ ~sed for .landscaped parklands, amphitheatre and pl.ay sculpture. The rear seotion where the gallery will be erected is already being cleared of old buildings. . , Ri¥er · influence in deSigtl; SOM•. ,_.wen of the • col• model for the . pri~anhig QuHn • lond Art Gallery deii1n, hfte Hk,ned It to o huge, white Phorooh'i po,oct on the bank • of the NIie. ~II that's needed, they've said, are a few,•giant Nubian s~rvants and a royal barg~ or two tied up -on the ·Brisbane River outside. In many ways the idea is not so far from archi– tect Robin Glblon'a own. . "Prom the flnt I aaw the ·p11ery u being 1n close relationship with the river," he said last · w e e It, soon after he learnea that his dealrn had been chosen for Queensland' • new · art gallery. "I saw the • tructure as having to be of a hori– lO!ltal deal~ to com– pliment the now of the rtver. And I saw a repeti– tion of the river theme In a water mall running north to south through the bulldlnr." Bal lb• Idea or a ,nndloee, palace-like 11weture waa aomethlnr be wanW &o nolcl. ''Too often the publlc'a ~perlence of art hM been a JJ!Onumental ex– perleiuie)" he said. Slmpllcity •movement, ,e.xaigera,ted forms and so·· on, It i:an detraci from . the works on d18plal. "I kep In mind' the faactlimal •~of the 1!81111n4 _ball - : It '.n1 to protlde an , 1Ue for dlnla:,lnr an to Ha best acfnnta,e. ". The Idea qf, walking, and the harmony be– tween Interior and ex– t e r I or. fascinated Mr. Glbllon during the emo– tion-testing months of designing the building. An extension to his nllery destrn could be, lie I a footway on the Ca Cook brld e. P. h a t a delfghtful week-end promenade that could be 'to walk from the city through the Botanic Gardens across the river to the gallery, to take refresh- "I wanted to establlsh ~ an lminedlate ·dialogue between the gallery and the community, Wlth1 ta series of terraced .P tha- forms rising from e river, the grounds convey the visitor quite natural- ly Into the gallery bu\ld• lh~Once Inside, the water mall acts as a point of orientation, .The visitor comes back to It at eac'h level and prO(leeds on to further galleries. "To my mind this 11ort of guidance through an art centre is essential, both :for the artistically sen~tttve· and the In– sensitive. I didn't want ' 8 0 m e t h I n g like the t,ouvre In Plrll, which 111 a veritable maze , -; the newcomer, · "I strove fot,atmpllclty. "You experience works of art by walking. Again horlr.ontal direction WU called for. If a bulldlnr Jiu too much vertical 9f art gaHery ments In the gallery res- turn to the water mall taurant and return over after completing the cir– the Victoria Bridge," he cult of each floorLso Mr. said. ' · Gibson returns' µ1 con- Ani>ther touch he'd like versatlon to Its ,varied ef- to,see,would be hydraulic fects. ·, pgwered •,elevators rising It ls clearly a feature frtllii the foyer and made Into which he has put from plate glass. , much thought... · "In this way the visitor "Al Us source'e could · rl1e , through ·the be Ins u a 'lie: · reel g111len;~ floor, gllmil_ln • :51 o( water, . .. . OWII tHe plllntlngs on tJ,,@ w, , on u a ,tream, piowllnr At the highest, . , a lively and ~ .at– elevator riders cou '· · "''· liro ~..P here ill""•·· lls out over the river • and ·• le'lirui, · ::'I'll, gallery ga rd ens. 1 • ;,so..:iettmes It,'~·joyous "The feeling I want to as leaping fountains near give people who enterl ls external sculpture· some– one of lightness and n- . times sof't as dandelion terest, fountains 'act as a cur- "I Imagine one or my taln to the temporary favourite J)a!ntlngs in gallery, . the Queensland gallery, "It's sometimes quiet Plcasso's 'La Belle Hol- 1n contemplation as It landalse', UJ> on one or flows around sculpture the new gallery's walls. to the courts of tlie II– With changing natural bra r y and education light It should always area. ~ · look fresh and different," "But It ls always or- he said. dered so the user ' can As the visitor will re- readily understand the APRIL 22, 1973 _ _.:. - - ~.-- -- - The Sunday Mall organisation of the .Rai•· lery . and the orientation of .hJa ltlherary," he said. In awarding Mr. Glb- : son first .Pr~e for his de~ &lgn,.. t.be Ql,teenal&Dd .Artf. Gallery steering Com– mittee announct<!,., ~lltt :J~t1lll!~:1~:~ , U will COi& -~ ,7.5 million. '" ' " " 1 " ; Tflere ~ ~till moli'tifs of , work and thought ahead for ,Robllt' ' Olbsbn· ' before his · ·gallery la· ready, When tt ls, he says, his reward will be seeing the enjoyment of people who use ft. · • "I want to give them that same response they fef'J In a beautiful, natu– ral environment out In the bush or on top of a mountain, I want them to think 'what a beau– tiful spot.' "I think this ls what a successful architect ls all about," he said. 1.4