Tate Modern

Tate Modern occupies a power station on the south bank of the Thames, and the building matters as much as the art. Bankside Power Station was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed Battersea Power Station. It was built between 1947 and 1963, stands directly across the river from St Paul's Cathedral, and closed in 1981. It escaped demolition when the Tate chose it in 1994 as the home for its international modern collection. The Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron kept the brick shell and the tall chimney and added a two-storey glass lightbox on the roof. The gallery opened in 2000. The collection displays are free, which helps explain why this is the most visited art gallery in the country.

At the centre is the Turbine Hall, the cavernous former generator room, with the old overhead travelling crane still in place. Each year an artist is invited to fill it, and several of these commissions have become part of London's memory. Olafur Eliasson's The Weather Project (2003–04) filled the hall with a huge artificial sun in a haze. Other commissions have come from Louise Bourgeois, Anish Kapoor, Rachel Whiteread and Carsten Höller. The collection galleries in the main building cover international art from 1900 onwards.

In 2016 the Blavatnik Building opened at the back. It is a tower with a sloping skin of brick latticework, again by Herzog & de Meuron, built above three huge underground oil tanks from the power station. The Tanks are now used for performance, film and installation art. The upper floors of the extension show art from the 1960s onwards. Galleries are linked by a bridge across the Turbine Hall, and from the upper levels you can see the city stretched out along the river.

Getting there

Tate Modern is on Bankside in Southwark, about 1.8 km from the centre of London. The nearest rail and Underground station is Blackfriars, about 500 metres away, and the Millennium Bridge crosses the river to the gallery from the St Paul's Cathedral side. London City Airport (LCY) is about 11 km away. Entry to the collection is free; major exhibitions are ticketed.