The former home of Sir John Soane, now turned museum, is a beautiful atmospheric space which houses a vast collection of objects collected by Soane throughout his life. One of the reasons I found this space so intriguing and inviting is its unique layout over three townhouses, connected by seemingly hidden passageways which present the abundance of objects within the collection.
When I walked into the museum, the atmosphere feels as though I had walked into a large time capsule, which was articulated through his paintings, books, and varied artefacts. Each room highlights the vast collection perfectly, through many strategically placed windows in both the ceilings and walls. This was a particularly important element for me to investigate whilst within the space, because the project brief at hand this week is designing a window of contemplation space.
This unique museum showed me many possibilities in how I could display a collection, which will help to inform the creation and design of my spaces within my coursework. It evoked a question of whether my collections should be placed uniformly and together, as I think placing the items sporadically is very striking too and worked very well within the Sir John Soane Museum.
References
Image 1 – 6 – Keeble, G. (2022). Sir John Soane Museum [Photograph].