July 9, 2025
The V&A East Storehouse is a purpose-built public space designed by architects Diller Scofidio+Renfro with support from UK-based architects Austin-Smith:Lord.
Opened just a month prior to my visit, the storehouse took over a section of the former London 2012 Olympics Media Centre in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Just a very small glimpse at some of the treasures you can see when walking the catwalks.
This stage cloth was painted by scenic artist Prince Alexander Schervashidze, enlarging the design by Picasso. It was for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes Le Train Bleu that first debuted in 1924. Picasso was so impressed with the work that he signed it.
Frankfurt Kitchen
The Frankfurt kitchen is considered an essential point in domestic architecture. It is also considered the forerunner of modern fitted kitchens because it was the first kitchen in history built according to a unified concept: a low-cost design that would enable efficient work. It was designed in 1926 by Austrian architect Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky for architect Ernst May’s social housing project, New Frankfurt, in Frankfurt, Germany. Some 10,000 units were built in the late 1920s
The first floor has a section of glass to let one look down upon the Agra Collonade. The pieces were removed during the colonial rule in India from the Shah Jahan’s bath in Agra.
‘Hi, Panda’ series by Jiji, 2007
The Storehouse has the potential to be the home for over 250,000 objects, 350,000 library books, and 1,000 archives from the V&A’s collections. Spread throughout are also mini curated displays.
Giraffe Piano
Corneille Van der made this instrument around 1820 (1769-1827) from Amsterdam. Owing to the shape of its case, this type of piano was known as a ‘giraffe piano’.
The Kaufmann Office is the only complete Frank Lloyd Wright interior outside of the US.
The Kauffman office is made up of 240 parts and panels, and once occupied a corner of the tenth floor of Kaufmann’s department store. In 1957, his son Edgar J. Kaufmann Jr. (1910-1989) moved it to the headquarters of the Edgar J. Kaufmann Charitable Foundation and Charitable Trust, on the fifteenth floor of the First National Bank Building in Pittsburgh. It was given to the V&A in 1972.
Queen Elizabeth Park
ArcelorMittal Orbit
Designed by sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor and engineer Cecil Balmond, the ArcelorMittal Orbit was constructed for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Made of 35,000 bolts and enough steel to make 265 double-decker buses. 60% of the ArcelorMittal Orbit is made from recycled steel, including washing machines and used cars.
As part of the refurbishing of the Stratford area for the 2012 Olympics, there is this fun art piece near the Stratford Bus Station. Titled The Shoal, and designed by Studio Egret West architects, it is made of naturally colored titanium and was intended to obscure the view of a multi-story car park.