The Royal Academy of Art's secretary and chief executive, Charles Saumarez Smith, has announced the institution's plans for an Anish Kapoor retrospective and a renovation by architect David Chipperfield in an interview with Bloomberg. Kapoor's show will take place in late 2009, while Chipperfield's renovation of the academy's Burlington Gardens annex should be completed by 2012.

Smith told Bloomberg that his aim is to refocus the institution on the 80 artists, or academicians, who govern it and on the academy's art school, by highlighting the work of the academicians and artists. "...In general, the RA has maybe not done as much as it might have done to promote the work of its members," he said. "I somewhat regret the fact that it's thought of primarily only as an exhibition venue, and not as an institution which also represents the work of its members." Both Kapoor and Chipperfield are academicians.

The announcements mark a turning point for the academy, which for three decades was steered largely by exhibitions secretary Norman Rosenthal, who left the institution in January to become a freelance curator. Smith joined the academy last year after serving as director of the National Gallery. Last week the RA announced another new hire from the National Gallery: Kathleen Soriano, who managed exhibitions and collections under Smith, will join the RA as director of exhibitions in January 2009.