MUSEUM Review g, STUO+ES History

Foundation: On June King George gave his RovalAseent to the Act of Parlizment
',vhich established the British Museum.
The British Act 175-3 also added other libraries to the Sloane collection,
r.LSE namely the CottonianLibra.ry, assembled by Sir Robert Cotton, dating back to
Elizabethan times, and the Harleian Library: the collection ofthe Earle of
BRITISH Oxford. They were joined in 1757 by the "Old Royal Lihrary", now the Royal
manuscripts, assembled by varioue British monarchs.
MUSEUM
The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum national, belonein:
•Year: 1852 to neither church nor kine: freely open to the public and aiming to collect
•Architect- Sir Robert Smirke: in 1845 et,zrything: and meant that the Museum now became bath National Museum and
•Place- London, England- library.
•Type: Natural History Museum
•Material-Glass, concrete, steel
•Context- V:han (water and mountains)

•Temprature-11.6' in warm season 3.3' in cold

season
•Annual visit- 6.5 million people visit annually
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Introduction
The Britieh Mueeum's Greek Revival main building and four adjoinmg wings were designed by architect Sir Robert Smirke in 1823 and complet
1852.

Although original designs called for a courtvard: the center of the museum was changed to be a rezding room- Surrounding the R ezcling Room: is the Great Court:
distinguishing it*li the rest of the mu:eum with a huge glass ceiling. The Great Coun was designed by Norman Foster and opened in 2000-

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Site Integration
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hi'} ignorance: rock; then meet.s the dalle of life* euch cultivztir.g the
Pediment
andtammg animale.
In keeping 'A-it.h the Museu-m:e claszical design: an architectural ±ature Men- then expand± hie Howledge and understandinz, nd the next eight figures
a pedimezt included above the columns. repre&ëllt his learnmg in the fields of anhitecture and sculpture, paiztir.g

Sir Richard Westmacott vvaz commis±iorzd to produce the sculpture for the
and geometry and drzmz, muzuz and wher:he finallv as an Educated.
tym-

panum: the receesed triangular forming the tenter of the pediment, and his The origlnally pzillted 'A-ith blue background.
design to represent the of Civilization'
Bzinning or. the là, it the creation of man,
of'
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The Entrance Hall

Approaching up the grand flight of steps, Visitors move throuzh Robert
Smirke'å great portico into the entrance hall. This apace was completed z:
pa.lt o? the final of Smirke:s masterplan for the Iviuseum in 1846.
In 1878 the hall expanded hy the addition third bay, neceeeitated the demolition of the
•outh portico. The entrance hall he been restored to its original tv, mo-bay conf eurztion
1'Åth direct access into the Great Court via the rebuilt •outh portico.

Beginning on the left, it the creation of man: repraented as he emerges: m his

ignorance: from a rock; he then meet: the Angel of Religion and leariE the
basic skills of life, euch az cultivating the land and tamir.E a-Is.
Man: then expande his knowledge and understanding, and the next eight figures
rep resent his learning in the field: of architect-Ire and sculpture: painting
and scien. geometry and drama, music and poetry 'il'hez he finally emerges an
educated. The pediment 'A-as originally painted mth a blue backg;round.

2000
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IVith its original decorative scheme restored the entrance hall forms a dazzling
pre lude to the Museum and the Creat Cout-
STUOES T+ESETEWÜLO.

South entrance and Museum forecourt

It was the last tving of the Museum quadrangle to be built, and construction
couldn't begin until the firztMuseum building, Montagu House, which had been on
the same site, had demolished.

The building deeigned m the classical style, a: was at the time,

'A'ith the Eut and Il'est Wings built for a more domatic purpose: to house •ome
eenior Museum Etaff The entire front of the South entrance mean-re:
112.7m (370fi) and the are 13.7m (4-ift) high.

In the end, a simpler design was chosen. It had two walled grassed a.reu to the
front and gas-operated: globe l,zmpst 'A'hizh later converted to electricity
and: in the ISS0s, a three-globe desigll
The gate: each -i tons and originally operated by means a fitted an underground
gr.-mg to the machinery workings for oiling and maintenance. The railings were set in
granite and mitially painted a bronze color they're now panted m 'invisible green* pmt.
CASE

Place Making: The Great Court

enjoying the Museum's collections and has pioneered patterne of social use hitherto %l'lthin this
or any other museum.

The Great Coun is a new (kind of civic epzcz -a cultural plaza — which people are invited

to use and enjoy from early ill the morning to late at night in a crowded city and a husy
Iviueeum it is an oasis.
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It followed that the Great Court offer m urhan experience in microcosm. Unlike other museums, 'A-here the first thing you see is the gift Shop, as you enter the
Great Coun from the south, the drum of The Reading Room sitå Before you m the coutyard like rotunda surrounded the hustle and bustle o? the Mll±eum.

Greats Court is more than a restoration, it mixes urban design and architecture and
the language of claesiem ilhth computer generated computer design.
Both structures to coexist turning the negative into positive space. The Greats Coun
appear to take its character form it- st-unu.ndiri9 but it iz anything hut pauive.

Sruo:eS

The Reading Room

The Reading Room stand: at the heart of the Mueeumt m the
center of the Great Court. Completed in 1857% it was hailed
as one at' the great sights of London and became a world-
famous center of learning.

Il'ithm the Reading Room the radial layout a: tabla has been retained and the ål.r
niture and fittings restored, The original fresh-ail ventilation system — in
'El'hich grille in the lees ofthe tables are servedfrom a 'spider'ofair ducte
belowthe floor hae reopened, while stale air extract and smoke venting i: through
the service formed around the rotunda.
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g. CASE Stuö+éS

Weston Hall
The Weston Hall was designed by Sydney Smirke, who took
over from his brother: Sir Robert Smirke, in 1845. The
patterns and colors on the ceiling of the Weston Hall
were borrowiEd from classical Greek buildings, which
would have been brightly decorated.

The electric lamps in the entrance hall are replicas of the original lighting lamps in
the Museum. The Museum was the fiat public building to be electrically lit.
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BY. tZFESÉTÉWOLO.

The Education Centre

To the south of the Reading Room, at a new level excavated metez (29 feet)
below the Great Court, is the Clare Education Centre. It contains tv;o
auditoria and five seminar rooms, all linked by a grand curving foyer.

The larger auditorium can seat an audience of 320, the smaller 1 50 people.
These new facilities vill meet the needs ofthe Museum:s expanding education
programme and allow it to stage major conferences and seminars or: an
international scale.