“There’s nothing cheeky,it’s all from the heart and genuine,” he says. The omphalos comes from “Euclidean space”,he says. “It’s recognisable as a universal form ... people will love being in a space that sits in their memories as a known thing. And I don’t think the Guggenheim sits in anyone’s memory except for Frank Lloyd Wright.”
The design is not yet finalised. Candalepas hints a further iteration might see that spiral disappear:“We may end up having something even purer than what you’ve seen.”
He does acknowledge a major influence:the NGV International. Its architect Sir Roy Grounds was a “great and important architect of this nation”,Candalepas says. “He’s created this incredible building that has imprinted itself in the memories of all the people in Melbourne.”
Its influence is seen in the slices and arcs cut out of the NGV Contemporary. Says Candalepas:“We need to respect those dead poets and offer them something that won’t have them rolling in their graves.”
At 60-metres high,with 30,000 square metres of floorspace including 13,000 of display space,the building will be the country’s biggest art gallery once completed in 2028 (the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra is 23,000 square metres).
But Candalepas had a problem:the triangular site meant sharp corners.
“People don’t like being in complex spaces,” he says. “They don’t want to be confused all day ...[we] had to find ways to enable rooms that are simple and able to be imagined as usable for 1000 years.”
NGV director Tony Ellwood says Candalepas’ design stood out from a distinguished shortlist (including Australian living legend architect John Wardle) because it perfectly fitted rectangular galleries into those triangular levels.
“He maximised the space,there was logical use of the external areas as well,so there was no compromise in terms of gallery scope,” he says. “[There are] verandahs that look out into the garden at every floor level. You’re never lost in this big monolith,you’re actually in this very friendly experience that unfolds as you go through.”
Loading
The elegant,refined design gave him goosebumps,Ellwood says.
The design does not cut a slice off the top of the building – as recommended in a master plan for the $1.7 billion arts precinct redevelopment – in order to avoid casting a shadow over its southern neighbours,a linear park and the ABC’s headquarters.
“When you put up a building,you cast shadows,” Candalepas says. “The worst thing you can do is create a building in the form of a shadow line. That’s a building that apologises for being itself.”
In previous projects people have expressed their worries,he says.
“But never have I heard anyone complain after the scaffold comes down.”
A cultural guide to going out and loving your city.Sign up to our Culture Fix newsletter here.