National Gallery of Australia celebrates 40th anniversary with new book
The National Gallery of Australia is launching a book, celebrating one of the nation’s “most remarkable buildings”.
Published in the year of the NGAs 40th anniversary, Vision: Art, Architecture and the National Gallery of Australia is an examination of the gallery building, which is a “bold combination of the sculptural and the functional”.
Designed by architect Col Madigan of Edwards Madigan Torzillo and Briggs, the NGA was completed in 1981 before it was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982.
The large Brutalist edifice, with sweeping brush-hammered concrete surfaces and soaring cathedral-style ceilings, it is one of Australia’s most recognisable buildings today.
Vision includes essays by architectural historian Philip Goad, alongside previously unseen images from the gallery’s photographic archive.
“Understanding the complex evolution of this now heritage‑listed building reveals its unique place in Australian architecture, and among art galleries both in Australia and internationally,” said Goad.
Perspective drawing of the original entry sequence to the National Gallery. National Gallery Research Library and Archives, artist: Davis Bité.
Image: Courtesy of EMTB Architects
“Now is the time to recognise the building for what it is, and celebrate the ambition of its creation, dare to uncover its bones and revel in its concrete presence and retrieve its vision.”
Photos include works of Australian photographers David Moore and Max Dupain, interspersed with drawings and plans, that chart the conception of the building – its design, construction and aftermath – from 1970s until present day.
National Gallery director Nick Mitzevich said the book is “a celebration of this significant building in the history of Australian architecture”, exploring the building in its entirety, from its founding on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country to its status today as a world-renowned gallery.
Vision is published by Black Inc. and designed by John Warwiccker, and features an introduction by Bruce Johnson McLean, with reflections from National Gallery curators Lucina Ward and Simeran Maxwell.
The book follows the 2012 publication of Falls the Shadow: From Idea to Reality, The National Gallery of Australia by Uro Publications.
