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Tate Modern Art Gallery
Tate Modern is Britain's national museum of modern art in London. The galleries are housed in the former Bankside Power Station, which was originally designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott the architect of Battersea Power Station, and built in two stages between 1947 and 1963. The power station closed in 1981. The building was converted by architects Herzog & de Meuron and stands at 99 m tall. Since its opening on May 12, 2000 it has become a very popular destination for Londoners and tourists.
The permanent collection of Tate Modern is on display on the third and fifth floors of the building, while the fourth houses temporary exhibitions. The Turbine Hall, which once housed the electricity generators of the old power station is seven storeys tall with 3,400 square metres of floorspace. It is used to display specially-commissioned work by contemporary artists, between October and March each year, in a series sponsored by Unilever. This series was originally planned to last the gallery's first five years, but the popularity of the series has led to its extension until 2008.
An extension dedicated to photography and video on the south side of the building, also to be designed by Herzog & de Meuron, will increase the display space by 60%. This project will cost over £100 million is scheduled to open in 2012
A popular approach to the Tate Modern Gallery is via St Paul's Cathedral across the London Millennium Bridge, there is also a riverboat pier just outside the gallery called Bankside Pier. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tate_Modern)
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