All language subtitles for The.Art.of.Architecture.S01E03.Episode.3.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-TEPES

Narrator: In the six months
after the new V&A Museum

in Dundee opened,

half a million people
walked through its doors.

Those behind this project,

the first V&A to be built
outside London,

were overwhelmed...
but not surprised.

They'd felt all along
that a signature building

by the Japanese architect
Kengo Kuma

on Dundee's waterfront

could trigger the regeneration
of this city,

spoiled by insensitive
development in the 1960s.

In Dundee's brave new world,

people would come here
to learn more

about Scotland's design heritage

in a structure that is itself
a piece of design,

a piece of art
with its own story.

- What I want to do is work with
the community

to respect the place and to
learn something from the place.

It is a kind of conversation
with the community

conversation with the place.

[rhythmic piano music]

Narrator: In Dundee, Kengo Kuma,

the architect behind
Tokyo's National Stadium

for the 2020 Olympic Games,

has produced the design
for the V&A that is unique,

and uniquely challenging
to build,

jutting out into the River Tay
alongside 'Discovery',

the polar exploration ship
built in Dundee

in which Scott and Shackleton
sailed the Antarctic in 1901.

'Discovery' came home to Dundee
for good in 1986,

around the time Kengo Kuma
first visited Scotland.

His impression of the landscape,

particularly the cliffs,
stayed with him

and, 30 years later,

it would influence his design
of Scotland's newest building.

This project is very unique

as it's sitting between water
and city,

nature and artefact,

and this is a very,
very unique location.

We tried to create the landform

between nature and city

and the cliffs give me many hint

about the shape of the building.

The cliff is showing
the composition

between water and the land

and that composition

is naturally creating
the soft, organic shape.

So, we tried to adapt
the shape of cliff

into real building.

It's not easy process to create
that kind of shape,

but finally, by using
the special concrete bars,

we could achieve
that kind of organic effect.

The first time I ever came
to Dundee,

this site was occupied
by some old buildings -

old factory buildings,
old warehouse buildings -

as I couldn't see the river
from the site.

But I saw the river
from the bridge

and it's just so big,
wide and beautiful.

And so, we thought
we should integrate

that kind of beautiful river
to the city.

And integration is the main
theme of this project.

Narrator: The new V&A is part of
a £1 billion master plan

to reconnect Dundee city centre
with its waterfront,

a connection that was severed
in the 1960s

by roads and other
unsympathetic development.

There is much talk
of Kengo Kuma's building

having the same effect
in Dundee in 2018

as Frank Gehry's Guggenheim
had in Bilbao in 1997.

But the challenge to turn around
Scotland's fourth largest city,

beset by growing unemployment

after industry wound down
in the 1980s,

is very great.

The council says
it will take 30 years.

The V&A is just the start.

- Up until we had set out
the waterfront master plan,

it was an area
that was effectively cut off

from Dundonians because of
a sort of mini motorway system

with overhead pedestrian bridges
and quite brutal architecture.

So what we've done
is to sweep all of that away,

put in a very simple and robust
gridiron pattern of streets -

very much a European tradition -

and at it's heart we have
a major green, open space,

Slessor Gardens.

We've put in
a new railway station

as an entry point into the city

and what's coming next are all
of the mixed use developments -

the apartments,
the offices, the hotels -

that will create that buzz

and bring the whole area
to life.

So, it's important that
the V&A Museum

sits within that living piece
of city.

[seagulls caw]

Narrator: In 2014, Dundee
was made a UNESCO City of Design

after a concerted push
by the council

to get the city
onto the cultural map.

But it was a chance conversation
that landed the V&A.

The idea for the museum
came from a visit to Dundee

by Mark Jones, the then director
of the V&A in South Kensington.

He'd been invited to see
the work in our College of Art,

invited by
the University of Dundee.

And during the day,
we had an informal lunch

while he was in the city

and a few people
were also invited -

I was one of the people
invited to that lunch.

And over the meal,
we spoke about regeneration

and the importance of the arts
and culture and creativity

in regeneration,

and it was a very nice lunch
and a very nice discussion.

But afterwards, I took Mark
on a tour of Dundee waterfront

and he became very interested
in what we were doing.

But we thought maybe that
was just that,

that was the end of the day.

But afterwards, Mark said,

"Look, I'd like you to come down
to London.

"I've got an idea,
I think we can work together."

Narrator:
The Victoria and Albert Museum

in London
identified hundreds of items

that spoke of Scottish design
through the ages.

These would form the basis of
the new museum's exhibitions.

But the man who would take
responsibility from day one

was determined that V&A Dundee

would be a hub for the artists
and designers of today.

I do think it's absolutely right

that Scotland should have

a design museum.

We have an amazing creative

heritage in this country,

amongst our artists,
our sculptors,

and very much with
our designers.

And working on this project
has been a revelation to me,

quite how extraordinary our
history is in design creativity

and, through that, in
entrepreneurship and innovation.

Narrator: Philip Long
came here from a post

in the National Galleries
of Scotland.

When he arrived in 2011,

Kengo Kuma's plans for
the building were controversial,

not because of the design
but because of the cost.

The new director put it back
on track

by reducing the extent
to which the museum

sat out in the River Tay.

- The project had
great ambitions very early on

and all of
the shortlisted designs

did attempt to place
the building out over the river.

In 2012, the project team
looked at that

and I think we recognised

quite what a challenge
that would be,

so the very sensible decision
was taken

to pull it back onto land.

But not completely onto land.

There's still a substantial
amount of the building

that does project out
into the river,

and I think that's
one of the things

that makes it not only exciting
to look at and to visit,

but conceptually
makes it very important

because Kuma's design, vitally,
reconnects Dundee the city

with Dundee's river,
the River Tay.

Narrator: But the design
remained the same -

two inverted pyramids with
double-curved concrete walls

to which would be attached
2,500 concrete planks

of different sizes -
Kengo Kuma's cliff.

[soaring string music]

Kengo Kuma was born in Yokohama
in 1954,

less than 10 years
after the Americans

had brought the Second World War
to an end

by exploding two atom bombs
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

[soft, sombre music]

Elsewhere, wartime bombing

had decimated Japan's
wooden buildings.

- In Japan, wood was
the most important material

and we thought wood

was oldest friend of us

and the softness of this wood
and intimacy of the wood

was creating our culture itself.

[sombre music continues]

In 20th century, unfortunately,

the concrete culture
civilisations came to Japan

and we lost the warmness
of wood.

But now the people
are going back to wood.

It's happening everywhere
in the world, not only in Japan.

And we are doing...

Everywhere in the world
it's because people

really want to revisit nature,
really want to feel nature

and wood is the best material

to give that kind of look
and softness.

Narrator: Kuma's aim in Japan
was to recover the place.

In the mountainous town
of Yusuhara

he's returned again and again

to design a wooden
bridge-shaped art gallery,

a community market,
and two hotels,

as well as the town's offices.

They call this place
'the town above the clouds'

and Kuma clearly sees it as
a showcase for his philosophy -

collaborate with the community
and with local architects,

use natural materials,

work with the hand.

In 1990s, the...

..because of the economic crisis
in Japan,

we didn't do projects in Tokyo.

So we went to the countryside
and we realised

some very small projects
with the craftsmen,

local craftsmen
with local material.

And I learned many things
from those experiences.

And after 2000, we began to work
in the big cities,

we began to work
in other countries,

and we tried to adapt
the method we learned

from the small village in Japan
to bigger scale.

But material is different,
skill is different,

but the basic attitude
to the place is consistent.

[slow, soft strings]

Narrator: He's experimented
with exporting Japanese design -

a Japanese garden in Oregon,

a tea pavilion in Vancouver.

He is designing
an aquatic centre in Copenhagen.

And of course,
the Olympic Stadium.

At the National Stadium,

Kuma has not only used
latticed wood on the outside,

he's brought nature inside

by putting trees and planting
along the circulation spaces

on every level,

continuing a Japanese tradition

of linking landscape
and interior.

Now, a Kengo Kuma design
is being built in Scotland -

his first project in the UK.

A cofferdam has been built

to allow the building
into the river.

The walls, precast off-site,
are being installed,

and the builders
and the engineers

have their work cut out.

- What we can see here
is the beginnings

of the building
emerging from the ground.

The line of the bars,
the way that they twist,

shows you already
how acute the walls will be

and what the overhang will be.

Dramatic, isn't it?
Very dramatic site.

[rhythmic piano]

Narrator: It's not lost
on Kengo Kuma or Philip Long

that the V&A in Dundee,

the home of a design museum,

is a piece of design itself.

The building
is quite a remarkable one.

I think we are very proud
to have a museum

which sets out its design
credentials quite so clearly.

Kengo Kuma has designed us
a fabulous building,

which I think invites people
to think about how design works.

How do we get from the idea
of what a building might be

through to its realisation?

Everything from the spaces
in the museum

that are fabulously designed
for showing great design,

through to how
the building itself

is revealed
through its structure.

I'm sure it will be
of great interest

to designers and architects
and engineers to come and see.

Narrator: The building
is a technical challenge.

New 3D software
had to be created

to render out the shape -

software
that would later be used

on the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.

The complex geometry
of this building,

the requirement for very,
very fine tolerances,

down to 1mm or 2mm
in three-dimensional space,

meant that we had to use
a completely different way

of setting out the building.

If you were watching the workmen
working on it,

you would have thought

that they were always
on their mobile phones.

They weren't on their mobile
phones - that was the GPS system

to work out
exactly where they were

in three-dimensional space

so they could work to
that very, very fine tolerances

that the whole engineering
of the building demanded.

Narrator: Philip Long says
nothing in his career

really prepared him
for a project of this scale,

or for showing it
to famous faces.

- And where we're standing,

the sea will return right up
to the front of the building.

Oh, wow!

You can really start to see
what it's gonna be like

when it's finished.

And how complex it is.

Narrator: He once wanted to be
an architect,

like his father before him
who worked for Sir Basil Spence,

the designer
of Coventry Cathedral.

The architecture is
in my family's blood,

and so is naval architecture,
in fact, further back.

In the end, I trained
as a sculptor and as an artist

and as a designer,
so I think all of these things,

I hope, has helped me
be sympathetic to the process

of the complexity of the design
and construction of this museum.

But I very much hope as well

that it helps me be sympathetic
to all of the designers

that we now are very much
looking forward to

in the museum.

The museum is showing
our heritage

and it is also showing new work.

We want to work with designers
to commission new works,

to give opportunities for them.

Narrator: But before
Scottish designers

can display their work,

the team behind
this ambitious project

has to deliver the vision
of Kengo Kuma.

[seagulls caw]

The materials that will mark out
the new V&A

as a building of distinction
are arriving in Dundee.

It's two years before completion

and the design
is testing the contractors.

- This is our first delivery
of precast planks

that will be going on
this sample panel.

So, each plank follows
the curvature of the wall

as well, so each plank's unique.

We've got 20 different
elevations

and external façade walls,

so as you're walking into
the new V&A,

you'll see all this concrete

stepping in and out
of the walls.

- I've been involved
as an architect, a designer,

a project manager for 30 years
in delivering building projects,

and this is without doubt
the pinnacle of those 30 years.

And living in Dundee

and sensing the excitement
and engagement of the public

with the building
as it comes out of the ground

is also very exciting.

Whereas your average building
is a very traditional frame,

very simple, straightforward,

the design of this
has required engineering,

sculptural techniques

that are traditional in that
it's concrete in its formwork,

but to actually build that
structure in its temporary state

requires very, very creative
engineering.

Man: I never, ever thought
I'd get the opportunity

to work on
that type of building.

The complexities of it
drive us every day

to stretch our imaginations.

It's just a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity.

The external walls that you see,

you see the red and yellow
formwork -

all that formwork
actually holds up the structure

until all the floors are in
place and the roof's in place.

And once the roof's in place,
the structure itself takes over.

Following on from that,
the precast panel planks

that are gonna be positioned
on the external elevations

will start to appear

and people will then see
the design concept come to life.

Narrator: And all the while,
Kengo Kuma is flying in

to keep an eye on
his first project in Britain.

Mike Galloway:
Working with Kuma-san

has been really uplifting,

because he's very much against
star architecture,

but he is obviously now
a very, very well-known name.

And he brought an attitude
to the building

which was very much
about setting it in its place,

so it's not just here to be
some kind of iconic landmark -

it has meaning in its place.

And also, we found that,
as with any building project,

there are always problems
that crop up with the design

and he always took a problem
and improved the building

in resolving that problem.

I don't think I've ever seen any
architect consistently do that

on a project that certainly
I've been involved in.

Narrator: It's taken four years,

it's challenged the people
who built it,

all those walls on a slope.

But most of all, the way
it juts out into the River Tay,

less than originally intended
but still prominent,

all achieved
by holding back the water

in that specially-built dam.

Finally,
away comes the cofferdam

and Kengo Kuma's design
is revealed.

It's a long way from the wooden
buildings of Yusuhara.

I think that, you know,
some of his earlier projects

are like little jewel boxes,

but I think that's where
he honed his craft

in terms of materiality

and I think, you know,
this building,

as large as it is, has...

A lot of its appeal
is about the use of materials,

particularly natural materials.

The exterior of the building,
if you said to people,

"Well, it's a concrete
building" -

that's not the way they perceive
the building at all.

It's using that material
in a way

which is perhaps unexpected
and really impressive.

[uplifting string music]

Narrator: As you might expect
from a museum team,

the story of the V&A in Dundee
was carefully curated.

The exterior of the building

was there for all to see
emerging on the waterfront,

but the interior
remained a secret

right up to the day
it was opened.

It's opening week.

Kengo Kuma is here
and it's press day.

The world will see at last

the interior of the V&A Dundee.

[sweeping orchestral music]

It's been remarkable
working with Kengo Kuma.

I think his sensitivities

to what the requirements of
a museum are in the 21st century

are really remarkable

and are becoming clearer to us
every day.

It's so thoughtful
to how visitors

might like to experience
a museum.

As one walks into it, it seems
to unfold in front of you

and you seem to slow down
as you look around it

and up through it,

through the windows that are
provided throughout the space

that gives you fantastic views
across the city.

Kengo Kuma seems to be brilliant
at making an architecture

which interplays, if you like,

with the surroundings
roundabout.

That's very important
for the site here

and, as a curator of a museum

that makes spaces
that are absolutely right

for showing objects in,
that works brilliantly too.

Narrator: Here are Kengo Kuma's
trademarks.

The use of natural materials.

Fins, this time in oak.

The editing of light.

Views over the water.

And the idea that it is possible
in a masonry building

to achieve a certain lightness.

We did use this beautiful oak
as a wall, as...[stumbling],

and also we tried to find
a unique solution

for fixing the wooden panels
to the wall.

And we tried to create
a kind of randomness,

and randomness is very important
for nature.

[rhythmic flute music]

And we tried to go beyond
the geometry of the building.

The normal museum has a...
has a cut

exterior and interior,

but this museum,
we tried to create connection

between exterior and interior.

- Kengo Kuma was really keen
that the wood panel

relates to one's own body
and to that sense of scale

which anybody can understand
and anybody can really enjoy,

so it's a building
which unfolds for you

as you walk into the museum

and it unpacks for you.

So as a visitor,
that you don't feel intimidated,

you feel welcomed
and you can chart your own path,

which I think
is a really exciting prospect

for anybody coming into
this museum.

Narrator: In his work,
Kengo Kuma

has always attached importance
to the void -

in this case,
the central exhibition space -

and to that very Chinese
and Japanese concept, Zen.

- The void is a very important
concept for Japanese building

and it is very much related
with Zen.

Zen creates a special atmosphere

where people can feel
a sense of nature

and void is the best solution
for that kind of space.

The big foyer
is a good example of void

and those...the space
between two blocks,

that void in the centre
of the building,

is to connect
the nature and human.

[rhythmic string music]

- I think the building that
Kengo Kuma has given the city

is a wonderful living room
for the city,

and he means that
in the most fundamental sense.

That living room for the city,

we are standing in
the main hall now,

we are surrounded by
warm wood panelling,

which is a wonderful invitation
to a different kind of museum,

which is a museum
for everybody to enjoy.

And that warm welcome
to the world of design

is something
that has infiltrated

every part of the programme
that we do.

So, yes, we have
a wonderful opening exhibition

on ocean liners,

but we also have
permanent collection galleries

telling the story
of Scottish design

for the very first time,

project spaces,
a designer in residence.

We've got lots of workshops,
talks, events.

We've got really something
for everybody.

Narrator: When Kengo Kuma
first saw Scotland 30 years ago,

he was fascinated by
the scenery,

but he also wanted to see
the buildings designed

by the Scottish architect
Charles Rennie Mackintosh,

especially
the Glasgow School of Art.

Fast forward 30 years and,

three months before the opening
of the V&A in Dundee,

Mackintosh's landmark building

has been destroyed by fire
for the second time.

Mackintosh looms large
in the new V&A.

The famous tea room interiors
he designed from Miss Cranston

have been taken out of storage
and installed here -

a poignant tribute

to one of Scotland's
most acclaimed designers.

If you were to ask me
what I'm most proud of

in this overall development,

it's certainly the museum,
the new institution,

the team that's come into place
to develop it.

But I think I am
especially proud

of the conservation
and restoration

of this original tearoom
by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

It was designed by him
for Miss Cranston

at the height
of Mackintosh's powers, in 1907,

operated as a tearoom
to the 1950s,

and then in 1970, it was pulled
out of its original building

and taken into storage.

When we set about developing our
design history galleries here,

we wanted to represent
Mackintosh

in a very special way,

so we've worked hard
with colleagues in Glasgow

and with the city council here

to bring back to life
this original tearoom interior

that people can now see
after some 50 years.

The tearoom
is right at the heart

of the Scottish design galleries

and is really right at the heart
of the museum.

Kengo Kuma came 30 years ago
to Scotland

looking at Mackintosh buildings,

because he was interested
in the avant-garde nature

of Mackintosh's work,

but also
that really warm welcome

that he gives to people
when you walk into those spaces.

I defy anybody not to be
absolutely bowled over

when they walk into
the Ingram Street tearoom,

which is the tearoom
that we have

right at the centre
of the building.

We've worked in partnership
with Glasgow Life

and Dundee City Council

to realise
this extraordinary interior,

which will be a total surprise
for visitors

when they come to the museum.

We are a brand-new museum.

We've got a lot to learn

and we've got
the perfect building

and perfect framework
within which to do that.

[soft music]

I've worked on many
interesting projects,

but this has to
really top everything.

I think to be part of
a brand-new,

21st-century design museum
is the most exciting prospect,

and a museum
which really defines the way

that objects are displayed,
conversations are had

and the way people enjoy and
encounter design

within a any museum context.

It can't get better than this.

Narrator:
From Charles Rennie Mackintosh

to the Scottish designers
of our time,

this is a new showcase.

A showcase
that is instantly attractive

not only to Dundonians,

but also to people
from all over Scotland

who come for
the opening celebrations

and then keep on coming...

and coming.

500,000 in the first six months.

[singing fades, cheering]

Lewis Capaldi:
Thank you all so much.

Narrator: They include the Duke
and Duchess of Cambridge.

The Duchess has just become
patron of the V&A.

Now Kengo Kuma's design
gets Royal approval.

I have been amazed
by the breathtaking architecture

and the sheer range
of design on display.

But most of all,
I've been moved by the passion

of the people who work here

and the dedication of all those

who've helped make
this important project succeed.

I'm pleased to declare
V&A Dundee officially open.

[applause]

Narrator: It was to have cost
£45 million.

It ended up costing
£80 million.

But those involved say
the value of the V&A to Dundee

is incalculable.

[seagulls caw]

Will it become as famous

as Charles Rennie Mackintosh's
Glasgow School of Art?

Will it do for Dundee

what Frank Gehry's Guggenheim
did for Bilbao?

Only time will tell.

A building is nothing
until it comes alive,

and it's how people
interact with that building

and how that building
influences their behaviour

and their mood
and their futures.

So, I've got great,
great hopes for this building,

in terms of what it will do
for the importance of design

in Dundee, design in Scotland

and design to every person
that comes into the building.

They need to understand

that everyone, in a way,
is a designer.

[soft, sweeping music]

Narrator: Next time...

In New York,
one of the biggest developments

in the country's history

has chosen Thomas Heatherwick
to design its centrepiece.

Inspired by the stepwells
of India,

the Vessel has been built
in Italy,

shipped across the Atlantic

and erected
on Manhattan's West Side.

It's cost $150 million,

it's been a hit
with the selfie generation,

and it goes nowhere.

In a sense, we tried to be
very idealistic and think,

"What's the best thing

"that we really think
should happen here?"

In the development team's mind
originally

was that there would be
a sculpture.

Of course, identity is done
with a sculpture

and in the studio, we've been
interested in trying

to break down the idea
that there's a functional world

and then there's culture

and that
they're two separate things

and that aesthetics and function
are two separate things.

To us, how a place
makes you feel is its function.

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