ARCHITECTURE / Profile
Ready for a close-up Meet the Stockholm architectural practice behind a major new photographic gallery for London
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laces where people meet and share ideas have been vital through the ages, from the Greek agora to the Italian piazza, early coffee houses and, in recent times, galleries where people come together and enjoy art. It is certainly the driving force for Fotografiska, the international photography gallery, which is scheduled to open an outpost in east London’s Whitechapel in autumn 2020. Creating a place that draws people in is the core ethos at Stockholm-based architectural practice Guise, which is designing this new photography mecca. “The whole concept of the place is the most important thing – creating a space where people want to come and stay a long time,” explains Jani Kristoffersen, who is Guise’s co-founder along with Andreas Ferm. Guise was set up in 2008, and two years later the award-winning practice was asked to work on the first Fotografiska gallery in Stockholm, creating one of the most-visited places in the capital. It has developed a firm reputation for innovative work and an inclusive design ethos, and this people-driven approach feeds into all of its projects, from galleries to retail spaces through to private villas. At the London version of Fotografiska, which sits on Whitechapel High Street, the gallery exterior is now finished while work on the
interior started in November 2019. Guise’s approach centres on the relationship between people, space and objects: “The relationship between objects and how people come together is an aesthetic,” says Kristoffersen.
Words Ruth Sullivan
Achieving this is challenging in a gallery that covers 9,000 sqm and spans five storeys of a former office block, built in 1984 by Fitzroy Robinson & Partners. The stark, rectangular construction has echoes of brutalism, according to Kristoffersen, and three of the levels are below ground. Undaunted, he believes they can “create underground galleries that contribute to an exciting, pleasant experience”. The practice plans to create an inviting and relaxed atmosphere inside by placing worldrenowned photographic works in sitting areas across all the public spaces, encouraging social interaction. In the main exhibition area, which is two levels below ground, the space is divided into a series of open-plan zones for small and large shows, with particular attention given to how people will move through them. Creating a sense of continuity is another important part of the approach and so Guise has designed its own bespoke lighting and furniture throughout the gallery to sustain this. Jan Broman, one of the two brothers who cofounded Fotografiska, is assured of a successful
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Facing page Top to bottom: the team from Stockholmbased architects Guise, the practice behind the forthcoming Fotografiska gallery in Whitechapel; a concept image of the 9,000 sqm gallery, converted from a 1980s office building
