Sainsbury Centre for visual arts

With the donation in 1973 of their extraordinary art collection to the University of East Anglia, Sir Robert and Lady Sainsbury sought to establish the Sainsbury Centre as an academic and social focus within the campus. They believed that the study of art should be an informal, pleasurable experience, one not bound by the traditional enclosure of object and viewer. As a result the Sainsbury Centre is much more than a conventional gallery. The original building brought a new level of refinement to the practice’s early explorations into lightweight, flexible enclosures and set the scene for Norman Foster’s international reputation.