This article has only just appeared online and seems to get closer to Chipperfield’s intentions – his doggedness and lack of obvious ego (at least in this project) than anything else so far written about Burlington Gardens:-
http://www.designcurial.com/news/royal-academy-by-david-chipperfield-6274523/#.W21T2G2qpPM.twitter
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Its a really good write-up. Hadn’t spotted – so thanks for sharing!
It’s an excellent article that pinpoints David Chipperfield’s brilliance, already clear from the Neues Museum in Berlin. He’s wonderful with daylight, and space. And here he has created , in the Collections Gallery, superb spaces for pictures.
He’s transformed the RA and set it out on its next generation, but it does beg the question about why Charles has decided to step down now, just when these brilliant spaces need to be brought to life.