Essay On Architectural Design Of The Museum

VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSUEM

Background Information of Victoria & Albert Museum
Being one of the largest decorative arts Museums in the world, the Victoria & Albert Museum is located in London (Jones & Kensington, 2006). The museum also exhibits historical designs as well as over 4 million permanent housing objects. Historical records indicate that the museum was founded in the year 1852 and was named in honor of the late Queen Victoria and the Late Prince Albert (Jones & Kensington, 2006). The museum is specifically located in Brompton district. The museum is located in a piece of land, measuring approximately 12 acres and has over 145 galleries (Jones & Kensington, 2006). Majority of the artistic work collected in this museum are approximated to be over 5000 years old, ranging from major ancient historical incidences to the current incidents. It exhibits artistic designs from various parts of the world for instance: Historical artistic designs from North Africa, Europe, Asia as well as North America. Records indicate that Victoria and Albert Museum also abbreviated as V&A has the world’s largest storage and collection of artistic materials from post-classical sculptures. On the other hand, the Museum is divided into various parts for instance: The Italian Renaissance section, the East Asia Collection, South Asia Collection, China, and Islamic World among other departments (Jones & Kensington, 2006).

The museum was designed during the Victorian period; as such its architectural design has a complex history characterized by a modification by various architects. The first part of the museum that was erected in earlier is the Sheepshanks Gallery. The architecture who design this part was known as Francis Fowke and other Royal Engineers who were appointed by the then Cole (Fowke, 1864). The second part of the Museum that was designed is the Turner and Vernon galleries that were meant as sections for holding eponymous collections; however, this section is currently used to display tapestry and picture galleries. That is, the Vernon section displays tapestry, while the Turner section displays pictures. The Museum is also characterized by a unique and ambitious dimension of decorations, with various mosaic figures, attributed to famous artists in the Medieval, Renaissance and the European eras (Ames-Lewis & Wright, 2014). In addition, the V&A museum was refreshment rooms that were designed in the late 1800’s, but are currently used as the museum café. Consequently, the on the northern corner of the museum, there is a ceramic staircase, also designed in the late 1800’s. These unique designs indicate how artistic works were appreciated in the ancient community and how creativity was valued.

Overview of Exhibitions within the Museum and its Relevance

As aforementioned, the Museum exhibits over 4 million of artistic works; these collections have been sourced from various parts of the word such as in China and other parts of Asia where the museum has collected over 160,000 artistic works. In addition, Victoria and Albert Museum has approximately 2 million collections of over architectural materials representing different parts of the world (Goodwin, 2014). The diverse nature of these collections indicates how global population has been characteristically diverse in terms of culture. In addition, the collections are an indication of how creativity and uniqueness was appreciated in the ancient world. The museum can be considered an imperative aspect of the British society; creates a platform for the current generation to learn issues ascribed to the ancient culture through art work.

Bibliography

Goodwin, M. (2014). Victoria and Albert Museum. Objects of Knowledge, 1, 9.
Fowke, F. (1864). Victoria and Albert Museum.
Physick, J. (2013). The Victoria and Albert Museum: The history of its building.
Ames-Lewis, F., & Wright, J. (2014). Drawing in the Italian Renaissance workshop: an exhibition of early Renaissance drawings from collections in Great Britain held at the University Art Gallery, Nottingham, 12 February to 12 March 1983 in association with the Arts Council of Great Britain and at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 30 March to 15 May 1983. Victoria and Albert Museum.
Jones, M., & Kensington, S. (2006). Victoria and Albert Museum. Director, 2, 1.