The new Dundee V&A

Today Jamie and I went on a wee road trip to Dundee. We met David for lunch which was great, he is working so hard in his lab but he took an hour out to see his big brother before he goes back to New Zealand. The views from outside the Bridge View Station café over the Tay were beautiful today; the water looked like molten glass and the sky was an amazing cream and turquoise which drew you towards it. As we looked at the view two gulls came flying so low over the water that I’m sure that their wings touched it, and their reflections were perfectly mirrored in the soft, smooth river.
Then Jamie and I went to the new V&A Museum down at the waterfront. The council have been planning and then slowly building this since Jamie was studying in Dundee and it has taken a long time to come to fruition. It finally opened a couple of weeks ago with great fanfare so I was keen to see it for myself. Jamie was more impressed with the architecture than I was; he felt that it fitted in very well in its surroundings but I thought that there was too much granite and not enough glass. It looks better up close and I must admit that the interplay of stone and water works well.
Inside it is very spacious and has a minimalist feel. I couldn’t help wondering where were all the exhibits because downstairs there are a lot of unevenly spaced wooden panels (I presume that they are unevenly spaced for aesthetic purposes) and a cafeteria, but not much else. However there was more to see upstairs; a room full of miscellaneous Scottish design including a Mackintosh tea room interior, and an exhibition about ocean liners. The exhibition was very well put together and much more interesting than I had anticipated; it included design, engineering, art and fashion. There still seemed to be a lot more building that Art though!
Back home in the evening with James and Alasdair we all had Domino’s Pizza for tea at Jamie’s request and watched the film Solo. Apparently they do have Domino’s Pizza in New Zealand but it’s not as good as the Scottish version!