The Sage

The Sage in Gateshead celebrates its fifth birthday this year after its grand opening in 2004. A centre for musical entertainment, the stainless steel and curved glass building was designed by Foster and Partners at the controversial cost of 70 million pounds. Many people objected to this as the feared it would only add to the highbrow culture emerging on thee quayside, a culture irrelevant to a large section of the Gateshead population. It was argued that the money would have been better spent reviving communities. My opinion of this however, is that the Sage does revive communities, by running classes in musical education and brining more tourism to the area. It could also be argued that surely in current areas of highbrow culture, those elements of culture must have been brought to that particular area at some point. So why can’t Gateshead now have its turn?

The cost was not the only issue, the very design of the building, was and still is a mater of debate. Despite The Sage Gateshead winning a number of awards, including the Local Authority Building of the Year in the 2005 British Construction Industryawards and the RIBA Award for Inclusive Design, it has also been described as a “shiny condom” by Gavin Stamp. Though modeled on a hand clawing at the river Tyne, and its outstanding acoustics, I can also see the resemblance to the giant slug, which some locals refer to it as. Despite this I feel that the Sage adds an interesting element to the developing quayside. It’s good to be different.

http://www.thesagegateshead.org/