Hintze Hall Balcony Detail - Explored!
This view looks at part of the first-floor balcony in the Natural History Museum's Hintze Hall.
In 1864 Francis Fowke, the architect who designed the Royal Albert Hall and parts of the Victoria and Albert Museum, won a competition to design the Natural History Museum. When he unexpectedly died a year later, the relatively unknown Alfred Waterhouse took over and came up with a new plan for the South Kensington site.
Waterhouse used terracotta for the entire building as this material was more resistant to Victorian London's harsh climate. The result is one of Britain’s most striking examples of Romanesque architecture, which is considered a work of art in its own right and has become one of London's most iconic landmarks.
The image above brings out a lot of the colour and the absolute profusion of ornate detail. I've always liked the small animal figures on the edges.
Here two monkeys are climbing the vegetation on the right and grasses or bamboo feature on the columns on either side of the lady framed in the bottom of the shot. In addition there's a profusion of arches, columns and other geometric forms in both the foreground and background.
Hintze Hall Balcony Detail - Explored!
This view looks at part of the first-floor balcony in the Natural History Museum's Hintze Hall.
In 1864 Francis Fowke, the architect who designed the Royal Albert Hall and parts of the Victoria and Albert Museum, won a competition to design the Natural History Museum. When he unexpectedly died a year later, the relatively unknown Alfred Waterhouse took over and came up with a new plan for the South Kensington site.
Waterhouse used terracotta for the entire building as this material was more resistant to Victorian London's harsh climate. The result is one of Britain’s most striking examples of Romanesque architecture, which is considered a work of art in its own right and has become one of London's most iconic landmarks.
The image above brings out a lot of the colour and the absolute profusion of ornate detail. I've always liked the small animal figures on the edges.
Here two monkeys are climbing the vegetation on the right and grasses or bamboo feature on the columns on either side of the lady framed in the bottom of the shot. In addition there's a profusion of arches, columns and other geometric forms in both the foreground and background.