The Big Building Boom
“We need cultural infrastructure investment to be matched or exceeded by cultural programming investment.”
—PENELOPE BENTON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS (NAVA)
When the first sod of earth is turned sometime this year to begin work on the new National Gallery of Victoria building, The Fox: NGV Contemporary, the focus will be on the future—namely, the building’s certain glory as the centrepiece of the new $1.7 billion Melbourne Arts Precinct revamp around Southbank.
The distinctive design of the new building is marvellously upbeat: bright, airy and welcoming, it boasts breathtaking archways, rooftop gardens with views, and a 40-metre-high spherical entrance hall that is vibrant with potential, its galleries spiralling upwards.
By the time it opens with fanfare in 2028, few will recall the NGV wasn’t the only art institution embarking on a bold venture back in 2022: art galleries around the nation seem to be amid an extraordinary building boom. It’s an upsurge of optimistic construction and renovation that runs counter to the persistently depressing narrative of closures and struggle that has been coming
