it has been announced that the zeitz museum of contemporary art africa — commonly referred to as ‘zeitz MOCAA’ — will open on cape town’s V&A waterfront on september 22, 2017. designed by thomas heatherwick’s london-based studio, the institution will form the world’s largest museum dedicated to contemporary art from africa and its diaspora. carved out of a historic grain silo complex, which has been disused since 1990, the museum has been designed to stand as a monument to the city’s industrial past.

opening date set for heatherwick studio's zeitz museum of contemporary art in cape town
the museum has been carved out of a historic grain silo complex
image by heatherwick studio / main image © iwan baan

 

 

spread over nine floors, zeitz MOCAA will include 9,500 square metres space, custom-designed by heatherwick studio. the galleries, as well as a cathedral-like atrium space at the center of the museum, have been carved from the silos’ 42 tubes that make up the building. 80 galleries offer 6,000 square metres of exhibition space, while a rooftop sculpture garden also forms part of the plan. other facilities include state of the art storage and conservation areas, a bookshop, a restaurant and bar, and various reading rooms.

opening date set for heatherwick studio's zeitz museum of contemporary art in cape town
inside the structure, 80 galleries will offer 6,000 square metres of exhibition space
image by heatherwick studio

 

 

‘the idea of turning a giant disused concrete grain silo made from 116 vertical tubes into a new kind of public space was weird and compelling from the beginning,’ says thomas heatherwick. ‘the technical challenge was to find a way to carve out spaces and galleries from the ten-storey high tubular honeycomb without completely destroying the authenticity of the original building.’

 

first announced in november 2013, the R500 million (£30 million) museum is a not-for-profit public cultural institution developed as a partnership between the V&A waterfront and entrepreneur jochen zeitz. the institution will open to the public on september 22, 2017.

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