A journey through time and light With the creation of its Medieval & Renaissance Galleries, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London highlights the important role that daylight can play in 21st century museums. By opening up spaces that had long been kept in the dark, the architects McInnes Usher McKnight Architects (MUMA) have impressively orchestrated a suite of galleries that invites visitors to a journey through 1,300 years of European art, design and culture. By Jakob Schoof Photography by Torben Eskerod
Finding common ground between conservation and accessibility was one of the main tasks that the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) and architects MUMA faced when they created the new Medieval & Renaissance Galleries. In terms of lighting, their aim was to allow as much daylight as possible to enter, but without harmful UV radiation and, wherever possible, without direct sunlight on the exhibits. Apart from its aesthetic value and benefits for energy efficiency, daylight also had an almost didactic meaning in the project: “It was particularly important to dispel the still popular notion of the medieval ‘dark ages’ by creating spaces that feel light,” says project chief curator, Peta Motture. “This is no mean feat, given the constraints of combining materials requiring different light levels, notably sensitive objects such as textiles and drawings.” The challenges were thus considerable but they have been resolved in a way that may well make the newly created galleries a model for future daylit museums throughout the world. The Medieval & Renaissance Galleries are located in the south wing of the V&A, which was completed in 1909 to designs by Aston Webb. They comprise three series of spaces located on three different levels that were, before their recent conversion, partly used for non-exhibition purposes. Two of them are located in the lower ground and on the first floor next to the south facade of the museum; a third is adjacent at ground level (Gallery 50). In
between, there used to be an open lightwell, which had, over the years, been built into at the lower levels for behind-thescenes use by the Museum. Establishing connections – the spatial concept The architects identified the lack of spatial interconnection as a significant challenge of the project: how would it be possible to join together the spaces distributed over three levels and separated from each other by an open lightwell? MUMA’s solution was to remove some connecting stairs and delivery ramps, excavate the lightwell down to basement level and put a glass roof over it. This strategy made the former outdoor area usable as an additional space for exhibitions, as well as for a new stair and lift providing access to all six levels of the museum. The newly-created gallery, which curves in a U-shape around the apse of Gallery 50, now joins what used to be separate spaces. The character of the external walls has been retained, and this tranquil space is an ideal place to relax and contemplate the works of art. Light structures space – an orientation system without signposts In the new sequence of spaces made up of ten galleries altogether, several ordering systems are superimposed on each other, which largely manage without any classical aids such as partition walls and signposts.
At the heart of the exhibition organisation are the objects themselves. MUMA placed particularly striking or important exhibits at the end of lines of sight and in other strategically significant places in order to guide the visitors. To divide up the spaces, including the largest ones, they almost exclusively the exhibits, together with their pedestals and the frameless glass showcases in which they are displayed. While each room has its own narrative, there is also an overlapping chronology that structures the exhibition. It covers 300–1500 on the lower level, and 1400– 1600 above, complemented by often larger-scale objects dating from 1350–1600 in Gallery 50. In terms of atmosphere, the curatorial brief sought a change of pace and rhythm throughout the galleries. Aston Webb’s architecture provided a sequence of spaces of changing scale and MUMA reinforced this rhythm with the use of light and colour. Along the south facade, light-filled, elongated spaces alternate with darker, quadratic ones on both the exhibition levels. In Gallery 50, in contrast, the lighting levels become more and more subdued from the entrance in the west to the apse in the east. This dramaturgy of light corresponds to the composition of the exhibition. The first half of Gallery 50 mainly accommodates sculptures and other light-insensitive works of art. In the second, there are religious art objects, some of which are sensitive to light to a degree. 73