Comparison of Tate Modern and Saatchi Gallery Essay

Comparison of Tate Modern and Saatchi Gallery - Essay Example The essay "Comparison of Tate Modern and Saatchi Gallery" compares two galleries and analyzes success and failure of them. Saatchi Gallery on the other hand, failed mainly due to poor choice of locations and art displays, inadequate architectural design and conversion of former industrial buildings.The Tate Modern gallery was constructed in a building that was formerly a disused power station. The designer of the original Bankside station was Sir Giles Gilbert Scott and it was built between 1947 and 1963. The western half of the structure was built with a chimney in 1952, while the eastern part of the building started operations in 1963. The power station was closed in 1981 as oil prices rose, because it was no longer economical to generate electricity through this method. Tate got an option on the site in 1981, which it exercised in 1994 and during this period, the building continued to remain unoccupied. Tate however, saw the potential in the now redundant Bankside power station; i t offered several advantages such as an enormous building with a large amount of available space, an architecturally superior construction proximity to historical sites such as St. Paul’s Cathedral and the rebuilt Globe theatre. The process of creating Tate Modern started in May 1994, when the Tate gallery in London Announced that it would be creating a huge new gallery for the specific purpose of exhibiting modern international works of art. As Sabbagh points out, the project appeared to be doomed.