Essay Assignment

Introduction

This is a research essay about Victoria and Albert Museum which we made it

as our research building in the era of Palladian architecture. Andrea Palladio, an

Italian architect started the Palladianism style in the 16th century. Palladio was

inspired by the design and architecture of the buildings in the ancient Rome. The

façade and structure of this museum are unique and were designed by a few

architects. There are few characteristics of Palladianism such as Corinthian

Columns, scallop shells, pediments used on doors and windows, symmetry and

others. Victoria and Albert museum is the world greatest museum of art and design.

Victoria and Albert museum is a well-known museum in the world as it is also

the largest museum of decorative arts and design. There are over 4.5 million objects

that are being exhibited in the museum. The main architect of the Victoria and Albert

museum is Aston Webb who is also the one who designed the main façade of the

Victoria and Albert museum built from red brick and Portland stone after winning a

competition in 1891 to extend the museum.

Retrieved from www.allabroaduk.com

Architects of Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A museum)

Here are the lists of some architects who had contributed to the building

Victoria and Albert museum.

NAME OF ARCHITECT PART OF THE BUILDING

Fowke North and west side of garden

F. W. Moody Ceramic staircase at northwest corners

James Gamble and Reuben Townroe North Façade that adopt the Italian

Renaissance

Besides, there are also some other designers that had contributed to the

interior of this museum.

Year of V&A museum been founded

The V&A museum was founded in 1857. At first, the museum was called the

South Kensington Museum. In +1899, the museum was renamed as Victoria and

Albert museum and is located along Exhibition Road and Cromwell Road.

Form and Shape of V&A museum

In this museum, there are two top stories the façade done by Sir Paul

Pindar’s house. Bishopsgate shows the wood work and leaded windows of the

museum. A rare survivor of the Great Fire of London, there is a brick portal from a

London house of the English Restoration period and a fireplace from the gallery of

Northumberland house. Besides that, this building shows European architecture that

includes a dormer window from the chateau of Montal. The main architecture gallery

in this building has a series of pillars from various buildings from different periods.

Function and the Purpose of V&A museum

After talking about the form and shape of V&A museum, we would like to introduce

the function and purpose of this museum. “The first seed of what was to become the

V&A museum was the founding of the Government School of Design, established in

Somerset House in 1837.”(Retrieved from:

http://www.architecture.com/LibraryDrawingsAndPhotographs/Albertopolis/

TheStoryOf/VictoriaAndAlbertMuseum/VictoriaAndAlbertMuseum.aspx) The founding

of the School was aimed to offer education in design. In year 1852, the department,

the Museum of Manufactures was set up in Marlborough House for artwork

exhibition.

Besides that, it also functions as a place for artwork collection and preservation.

There are lots of artistic objects been collected in the galleries. The collections in this

museum include paintings, sculptures, costumes, furniture and etc. Nowadays, it also

acts as a tourist attraction. Furthermore, there are also some study rooms and library

that were built for research on arts purpose.

Materials used to build V&A museum

Besides designs, materials are also one of the most important components to

build the building. There are some materials that had been used to build the part of

building that we are focus on, the main entrance, such as terracotta, brick, mosaic,

wood, stained glass, and red brick, bronze and iron glass. The materials mostly used

in the entrance of V&A museum are terracotta, brick and mosaic. The door of the

main entrance of V&A museum was actually made by bronze. The embellishment in

the building is made from terracotta and mosaic.

Retrieved from: http://asemus.museum/museum/victoria-and-albert-museum/

Some of the common materials had been used in the interior of the V&A

museum. The walls were paneled with the wood and also plastered. The walls were

decorated with the stained glass windows. Besides that, the columns were designed

with Corinthian style and were coated with the ceramic tile. The ceiling is made from

the metal sheets, stained glass and also marble. On the other hand, the lower parts

of the walls were coated with the blue ceramic tiles with figures on it and some other

parts were only coated with the wood. Stained glass which elaborates with iron grill is

to make the window glasses. The materials being used in constructing the V&A

museum can be easily found at that era. (Source:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/conservation-journal/issue-44/materials-and-

their-interaction-with-museum-objects/)

What makes V&A museum historically significant?

The collections in V&A museum had span almost two thousand years to

being collected from many parts of the world in different media. This allows the

visitors to encounter a treasure house of amazing and beautiful objects. (Source:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/a-brief-history-of-the-museum/ )

The success of Great Exhibition in the previous year had made V&A museum

become historically significant with the collections include musical instruments,

architecture, costumes and etc.

How does V&A museum reflect the spirit of time and place for which it was

built?

Palladianism started in the 16th century in Italy. It was an influence which

spread out through few ways such as travel of businessman to different country. In

18th century, some of the architects in England had used Palladianism concept to

design buildings. Few characteristics as we mentioned in the introduction are the

characteristics of Palladian architecture such as symmetry, Corinthian column and so

on. As the greatest museum of arts in the world, it had shown that the enthusiasm of

British to educate their generation with arts. It also shows the importance of arts and

design indirectly.

Conclusion

Victoria and Albert Museum is a significant building that shows the Palladian

architecture in London. It had shown its uniqueness among the buildings in the same

period. Besides that, variety of collections in it allows people to gain inspiration based

on the beautiful objects that had been collected.