Edinburgh has even more reasons to boast about since the new National Museum of Scotland was recently completed, with offer 16 new galleries for the public, hosting over 8,000 objects – a beautiful blend of culture, science, discovery and history.
The public space was expanded by Gareth Hoskins Architects and Ralph Appelbaum Associates took care of the new exhibitions –trying to pleasantly surprise the visitors.The Museum is a very important piece of architecture since it keeps the Victorian style in its architectural design. The Entrance Hall is formed from stone vaulted spaces, making it be accessible from street level.
The Entrance Hall reveals one of the museum`s attractions: the Grand Gallery that looks like a birdcage and you can tell why: it has cast-iron balconies and a glass roof and it copies the style of London`s Crystal Palace. The Royal Engineer Captain Francis Fowke, architect of the Albert Hall, designed this gallery and it was opened in 1866.
The Grand Gallery has the “Window on the World” and this display occupies four stories of this space,having over 20 m high and revealing collections of the Museum.
The most important collections are gathered in another gallery called the Discoveries gallery which lies in the core space of the museum and it also exhibits the Millennium Clock and other internationally important exhibits. Other features in the architecture include a three story Learning Center that has to offer new studios,event spaces and an auditorium that has enhanced features. The visitors can easily visit all the corners of the museum and all the galleries with the help of walkways, balconies and escalators.
Although the new museum seems fit for the 21st century the beauty of it lies in the preservation of the Victorian style and the displays are very original in their design,attracting all sorts of visitors: from locals to tourists from all over the world. Open-display taxidermy, object-rich installations –it does seem as if they`re brought to life to please the viewer.
