This MONA needs more than one visit (more than two really) and at least one approach by water.
The ferry heads up Derwent River under the Tasman Bridge, a vast concrete span now well etched
into most Australians' psyche by the memory of the bulk ore carrier which crashed into two piers and sank within minutes drowning seven crew and five people in the four cars which drove into the void. It was Nearly Six Cars.
The ship lies down there still, cargo intact, covered in concrete.
It takes about half an hour up the river, past the belching zinc refinement plant to which the fatal ore was heading, up in the suburbs,
before MONA appears on the site of an old vineyard - a classified '50s house onto and around and under which the museum has been built. Cantilevered accommodation pavillions stare out across the river.
3 comments:
Looks impressive within, less so without. But at least it's not a jarring feature in an unspoilt landscape.
Actually the outside is pretty good David - no higher than the topography, rusting steel like a great red brown chunk of rock, fractured, organic, and as galleries go (think Bilbao) rather understated in its approach as you climb up and into the cliff before the descent down the rabbit hole. The architect was hinting at arriving by boat at somewhere like Naxos and climbing up from the sea. All galleries (bar a special pavilion for the Keifer work) are underground. I'll get a few links with some better shots and background blurb on the place up very soon, I hope.
MONA looks fascinating, and I haven't even visited all you've got on offer yet. The outside reminded me of the Dia:Beacon near us here--very different architecture (a repurposed biscuit factory), but with a gorgeous setting on the Hudson River. What's inside Dia, however, doesn't appear to be nearly so interesting as what you saw at MONA. Thanks so much for giving us this virtual glimpse.
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