Erick van Egeraat's MIMA Gallery - key to Middlesborough revitalisation
Erick van Egeraat has completed a new building for the Middlesborough Institute of Modern Art (MIMA) in the UK. The project is part of an urban regeneration scheme and includes the creation of a new public square. EEA's design won an international competition in 2002. The square has been designed in co-operation with West 8 landscape architects.
Building and square are situated on a formerly abandoned territory on the brink of the city centre. Together they form the key element in Middlesborough's revitalisation programme.
The scale of gallery and square relates to the surroundings and the use of materials respects the existing buildings. White limestone and glass make the gallery a light, transparent and accessible building. The interplay of grass combined with a subtle pattern of oxidised metal panels creates connections across the square and gives the once neglected area a friendly and inviting appearance.
The decisive space of the gallery is a foyer with a height of more than 16 meters revealing a central staircase, which is framed by a suspended stone curtain. The foyer with its transparent façade forms a transition space, linking gallery and public square and stimulating interaction between the two.
Citizens are invited to engage with the square to create public life and embrace the gallery as heart of the new cultural quarter of Middlesbrough.
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