V&A Medieval and Renaissance galleries

To the Victoria and Albert Museum yesterday, to see the exhibition Gargoyles and Shadows: Gothic Architecture and 19th-Century Photography. I'd read about the exhibition in Building Design and thought it was worth a look. And indeed it was, although exhibitions in the V&A's architecture galleries always suffer from their diminutive size. The temporary exhibition space is tiny, which means that you never get more than a snapshot (excuse the pun in this context) of your chosen specialist subject.



However, my trip also provided an opportunity to view the new Medieval and Renaissance galleries, which opened in December. I'm usually a bit suspicious when the press is particularly effusive about a project (my PR hype radar starts bleeping like mad). In the Guardian, Stephen Bayley had declared: "If these galleries were a standalone in any other country, it would immediately become one of the world's great museums". The Telegraph gushed that "the whole project... is a triumph". How could it possibly live up to these expectations?


Above: Container from Cologne, dated 1180

Several hours later, and I was able to conclude that, if anything, the press had understated the scale of success. As a member of the channel-surfing generation, I have an attention span that can be best described as abbreviated. Yet I was gripped from start to finish. In fact, I didn't get to see everything and will need to return for another fix (I spent most of my time in the Level 0 galleries, covering the earlier medieval period).







It is to be expected that the V&A is home to a world-class collection, but what really impresses is the design and curation of the galleries, plus the excellent (and mercifully low-key) interpretation. Architect of the scheme is MUMA (McInnes Usher McKnight Architects), who previously designed the museum's cafe - you can see some of my photos of that scheme on my website.



Connecting the three main sequences of spaces is a new vertical "circulation hub" that occupies a former lightwell to create a new gallery space. The crowning glory is a monopitch glazed roof, bringing daylight deep into the exhibition spaces.