The Floating Gallery

About this work

The Floating Gallery shows a modern building made of curved glass ribbons, lit from within so that every band glows gold. It hovers above still, dark water, which mirrors it and doubles its shape. Behind it, blueprint grid lines fade into a pale grey haze, as if the building were stepping out of the architect's drawing.

For most of history, walls had to carry a building, so façades stayed straight and heavy. Steel frames, reinforced concrete and modern glass changed that in the twentieth century, letting architects wrap buildings in curves and light. Reflecting water is a much older device: the long pool in front of the Taj Mahal doubles the mausoleum, and many contemporary museums use shallow pools the same way. This picture joins both ideas with the grid that every design starts from.

This modern architecture art brings a quiet, panoramic calm to a living room, bedroom, office or reception area. Its gold and grey sit well with white, stone and soft taupe walls, and with black or brass details. The wide 16:9 format suits a sofa, bed or long sideboard, and on a 4K TV or Samsung Frame the inner light of the building really glows. Hang it next to The Golden Arcade to set classical and modern architecture side by side.