London · Bankside
Tate Modern
A power station on the Thames holding the national collection of modern art, free to enter
The Turbine Hall, five storeys of empty space filled by one commission a year
Giles Gilbert Scott built Bankside power station in the 1950s, it closed in 1981, and Herzog and de Meuron turned it into a museum in 2000 by mostly leaving it alone. The Turbine Hall, a hundred and fifty metres long and thirty-five high, is the largest gallery space in the world and hosts a single annual commission that has included a crack in the floor, an artificial sun and a slide from the top floor.
The permanent collection is free and arranged thematically rather than chronologically, which irritates purists and works well for anyone who is not one. The Blavatnik extension added a viewing level with one of the best free views in London.
The detail
Good to know
- Building
- Bankside power station, converted 2000
- Admission
- Free, exhibitions ticketed
- Turbine Hall
- 155 metres long
- Late
- Friday and Saturday until 22:00
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