V&A Dundee architect to return for museum’s first anniversary

The Japanese architect of V&A Dundee will return to give a special talk to celebrate the museum’s first anniversary this month.

Kengo Kuma will discuss how designing the Scottish museum informed his work on the National Stadium, the main venue for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

V&A Dundee has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors since it opened on September 15 last year.

In his talk on its first anniversary, Mr Kuma will discuss his approach to design, the links between the two projects and talk about his belief the National Stadium should be “a symbol of a new age, a new period of natural design”.

Philip Long, director of V&A Dundee, said: “In its first year V&A Dundee has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors to enjoy our remarkable architecture, world-class exhibitions, our permanent Scottish Design Galleries and many exciting events and workshops.

“It has been a thrilling year, from the moment we opened to the world last September. From that moment our visitors have brought V&A Dundee to life.

“We are honoured to be welcoming Kengo Kuma back to host a special evening on the first birthday and we look forward very much to our second year, particularly our upcoming major exhibitions Hello, Robot and Mary Quant.”

V&A Dundee is also holding a day of free family activities from 10am to 5pm on September 15 to celebrate the first anniversary.

It will feature free tours of the museum, live music, talks from designers and drop-in design activities in the Thomson Learning Centre, including creating a new banknote to mark the milestone.

The museum had welcomed 500,000 visitors by March this year.