Contractors at National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing Unearth Letter Criticizing Aspect of Venturi, Scott Brown’s Design

View of the Sainsbury Wing entrance foyer at the National Gallery, London, prior to renovation efforts. Photo © National Gallery, London

The controversial, Selldorf Architects–led remodeling of the Venturi, Scott Brown and Associates–designed Sainsbury Wing (1991) at the National Gallery in London has turned up an easter egg of sorts.

Building contractors, while demolishing two of the false columns within the main foyer, unearthed a typed note by project funder John Sainsbury, also known as Lord Sainsbury of Preston Candover, expressing criticism of Venturi and Scott Brown’s design. As reported by The Art Newspaper, the letter, dating from July 26, 1990, was dropped into one of the columns by Sainsbury during construction. Typed in all-capital letters, it states the following.

IF YOU HAVE FOUND THIS NOTE YOU MUST BE ENGAGED IN DEMOLISHING ONE OF THE FALSE COLUMNS THAT HAVE BEEN PLACED IN THE FOYER OF THE SAINSBURY WING OF THE NATIONAL GALLERY. I BELIEVE THAT THE FALSE COLUMNS ARE A MISTAKE OF THE ARCHITECT AND THAT WE WOULD LIVE TO REGRET OUR ACCEPTING THIS DETAIL OF HIS DESIGN.

LET IT BE KNOWN THAT ONE OF THE DONORS OF THIS BUILDING IS ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED THAT YOUR GENERATION HAS DECIDED TO DISPENSE WITH THE UNNECESSARY COLUMNS.

While Denise Scott Brown has stridently opposed Selldorf’s redesign, neither architect has yet responded to this newly found historic document. Lord Sainsbury, former president of his family’s British supermarket chain, died in January 2022 at the age of 94. The renovation is expected to wrap up in May 2025.

KEYWORDS: London

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Matthew Marani is Special Sections Editor at Architectural Record. Previously, he served as Program Manager at The Architect’s Newspaper and has several years of experience as a freelance writer specializing in urban planning, historic preservation, and architectural technology. Matthew is a born and raised New Yorker and holds an MSc in Architectural Conservation from the University of Edinburgh.