Of the 140 participants, only five got into the second round, and Zaha Hadid was among the eliminated. The luckiest ones were Amanda Leavith, Edward Callinan, Haworth Tompkins, MUMA and Stanton Williams Architects.
The collection of the Whitworth Gallery, founded in 1889, includes works by the greatest British painters and sculptors of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as works by Paul Gauguin, Vincent Van Gogh and Pablo Picasso. Due to the richness of the collection, the museum even received the nickname "Tate North Gallery" (meaning the north of England), so the competition for the project to expand its building attracted lively public attention, although it is only about the creation of a new, connecting the gallery with the park entrance, a second cafe and additional training facilities.
The projects of all the finalists demonstrate great restraint in handling the main building of the museum, the construction of the early 20th century. in the spirit of eclecticism, located in the middle of the park. Most turned to the aesthetics of minimalism, the only exception was the project of Amanda Leavith: she turned the new extension into a land-art object, almost merging with the landscape of the park.
UPD 2009-11-08:
The winner of the competition was the MUMA bureau.
