New Transport Museum at Riverside

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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby minxy » Tue Jun 28, 2011 9:16 pm

Ok.....I went, said I wouldn't, but went mostly to see the building. It's a lovely piece of architecture too, outside and in.
It's definitely a place where the items are displayed in an artisitic way, nice for arty people like me, not so good for transport enthusiasts.
Doubt I'd go again though, not for any other reason but that I have visited the old place over so many years as a child, there is not that much to interest me anymore.
I liked this display best
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby WeeGee » Tue Jul 05, 2011 9:03 am

Headed along yesterday and was actually quite impressed!!! When me and my sister were young the two things we used to always say about the transport museum was 'I wish you could actually go inside the shops' - now you can :wink: and 'I wish you could go on to the buses and trams' - now you can! :P so that was two thumbs up for us straight away!! :) (no wee cinema in the new one though which was very disappointing).
The building itself is very impressive but some of the displays are difficult to see - the cars on the walls and the bikes dangling from the ceiling.....
My son and niece who are both 5 really loved it and to be honest that is great for me cos thats what its all about for me - keeping the kids amused during the summer holidays the way my parents and grandparents did with me and my sister.
Don't get me wrong the old transport museum will always hold a special place in my heart and I am so glad that the two kids got to see the old place too before it closed down :)
I say go and have a look we will definitely be back.........when its a bit less busy!!!!
It's not how it looks....honest
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby dimairt » Tue Jul 05, 2011 3:45 pm

Made my first visit this morning. First impressions: the building isn't that special - it's a big shed with two smoked glass walls, front and back. The problem though is that the emphasis all along has been on the building itself rather than the subject - transport - and its contents.
It was great to see Spencer's paintings and drawings from his spell here as a war artist; great too to have a floor-plan in Gaelic - nice touch.
I liked the new street lay-out now that you can get into many of the shops; they may have missed an opportunity though to have the cafe and the pub, for example, open for business ie a working cafe and pub, especially during this busy opening period.
The cinema was disappointing as was the dancehalls film, shown on the side of the 29 tram: the film shown in the former has clips from cinemas outside Glasgow; the later has a really badly-made film with actors playing in front of old dance-hall footage, as before some of the clips aren't from Glasgow.
Overall, it did seem rather cramped which may account for the too-clever-by-half displays of cars and bikes. I've noted some comments about accessibility, especially if you're going on foot but found it easy walking from Kelvinhall subway. Judging by the crowds this morning, it's not a problem.

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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby Dexter St. Clair » Tue Jul 05, 2011 8:12 pm

The Riverside 100 drops you off.
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby John » Wed Jul 06, 2011 9:55 am

The building is beautiful and the food in the cafe is excellent. Now for the negatives; surely the point of a transport museum is to allow people to view the exhibits? Most of the cars and bikes were on high displays making it impossible to get up close. Being able to peer through the vehicle windows to see the interiors was an important part or the experience for me and, sadly, this is no longer possible.

The tall ship was superb though and highly recommended.
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby Late to the Party » Fri Jul 08, 2011 3:38 pm

The Tall Ship has always been a great venue! Been to a few nights out on there and you can't beat it. Not been to the new Transport Museum yet but looking forward to taking a wander down that way next week. Hear a few folk saying they didn't like the high exhibits but I guess you can't please everyone all the time....
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby gordon » Sat Jul 09, 2011 10:54 pm

I think it definitely requires repeat visits. The problem I found on my first visit was that I was looking round it with an image of the old floor plan in my head, so it just didn't feel right. My thing was that the layout of the old museum was such that you could very easily divide up your visit in a fairly logical and rational way (the ships, the cars etc.).

As an architect, it's difficult at the moment not to focus all your attention on the building itself, which for the record I do think is pretty impressive. That said, I felt that there was too much in it - you could easily take out a good portion of the new exhibits and leave a good body of stuff to see - there just didn't seem to be enough room to wander about, without worrying that you were missing lots of stuff out.

But on the whole, I'm reserving my judgement until the school holidays are over - no point trying to form a balanced judgement when half of Glasgow's weans are running about!
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby The Egg Man » Sun Jul 10, 2011 12:11 am

gordon wrote: ..............
As an architect, it's difficult at the moment not to focus all your attention on the building itself, which for the record I do think is pretty impressive. ............................!


Do you, as an architect, have any idea what percentage of the total cost went on the design and do you, as a visitor - trying to disassociate yourself from the fact you're an architect, have any idea what influence the building, as opposed to the content, had/ has on your overall opinion of the place?

You're right about the school hols. No more than an, understandable, ploy to show good visitor figures for the first week/ month/ quarter etc.
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby gordon » Sun Jul 10, 2011 7:37 am

I've no idea how much went into the design, but I would imagine it would be a fair chunk...although more probably went into the engineering to make the thing stand up!

I think it's very easy to be 'wowed' by the building. Long before it was finished, the plan form and the kinda 'saw-tooth' profile had become fairly recognisable images, so in that sense the attention is placed more on the building rather than the things it holds.

I think the issue for me is that the interior spaces just don't seem to work for me as a museum. As I said before there isn't as much opportunity to wander, the form guides you on a fairly distinct route, but at the same time I didn't feel I was able to really absorb it all.

On purely physical terms I think the building is an impressive 'object' and certainly it's beautifully detailed. What I'm not sure is how it's going to work as a museum. The old museum had the air of a 'collection' about it, with nooks and crannies that you could explore (which rapidly became favourite destinations each time you visited), whereas the new building, to me, seems more like a big (well detailed, expensive and mega-engineered) shed, where you could really hold anything.

To be honest I think a good part of its eventual success will depend on how it is linked in with Partick and the West End, and how it dovetails with future development along the Clydeside. It's marooned at the moment, and the danger is that it won't entice people to come back until it becomes more intensively 'knitted in' to what's nearby.
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby droschke7 » Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:01 pm

The Building its self from the outside is pretty impressive has unfortunately been spoilt by the interior design which appears to have been done by a 5 year old, and I thought child labour was illegal in the UK. I was extremely disappointed. You can hardly see any of the cars as they have been stuck up on the wall, (similar to something I did for my son when he was 4, a wooden frame so that any one going into his room could see his Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars). They've done the same thing with the Motorcycles and don't get me started on the Pushbikes hanging upside down from the roof.

Best Part of the Exhibition

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Breaking the Law? These things are clearly Scooters and not Motorcycles

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Velodrome my ****

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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby droschke7 » Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:02 pm

Car display cabinet

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a very unusual Crash?

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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby Fireman » Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:54 pm

droschke7 wrote:Best Part of the Exhibition

Image


Citroen 'H' van - so ugly you've just got to love it! 8)
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby BenCooper » Wed Jul 13, 2011 9:34 pm

Well I went, expecting to be disappointed, and I thought it was fantastic.

Perhaps because I'm not a "car person", but I'm not in the slightest bit interested in being able to look inside every car to comapre gear knob shapes - the display on the wall worked very well I thought. The ship conveyor was simply inspired, the other ship model displays were well laid out, and even the Moebius strip of bicycles was good. Most of all, I liked the way it was linked together - a Parsons turbine near a model of a triple-expansion engine near some gorgeous Napier drawings, near some notebooks from the engine designers - it all flowed together very well. The quirkiness was good too - the tank engine about to fall out of the upper level, the zebra next to the baffle-pattern ship models, things like that.

It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than the old museum, and it's got a lot of potential...
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby Bing Buzby » Thu Jul 14, 2011 6:09 am

rabmania wrote:and we've got a burger bar stationed outside our fab new museum! Class!


Only one? Give it time, if it turns out popular there might be more. There are half a dozen food and trinket carts parked outside the Guggenheim in New York and museums don't get much classier.
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Re: New Transport Museum at Riverside

Postby glasgowken » Thu Jul 14, 2011 6:22 pm

I visited today, and I have to say it was better than I expected.

Approaching the building it does have an impressive sense of scale I wasn't expecting, that's a plus on the purely dramatic side.

Inside it's a real higgity piggity, all muddled and crammed together. That's not always a bad thing I like crammed museums but it does have a very disorganised feel, far more so than the old place, almost as if they placed vehicles where there was a free spot. Very odd but to be honest I don't dislike that feeling. There was a lot of nooks with new bits & pieces crammed in, far more smaller items, which is good.

Being able to board some of the trams is an interesting experience, I wonder how they will fare after a while with all those people clambering aboard, but it was nice I admit.

The street exhibit was a real let down, no atmosphere at all and pretty small. The old one was easier to lose yourself in, and had the excellent Subway station. What a lost opportunity.
The Subway exhibit is truly awful, and I just hope they haven't damaged any of the cars. The half car was ruined anyway so that's no loss, but where's the red car and the station master's office ?
Likewise the wall of cars is hopeless, there's nothing good to say about it other than thankfully not all the cars are up there. Then the merry go round of ships, why WHY ? Again thank god it's only a small number and others are more traditionally displayed. I only hope saner minds prevail and these exhibits are modified.

Then I visited the Glenlee, I'm ashamed to admit i've never visited this before but it was wonderful, well worth the entry fee.

So as I said, better than expected (well it would have to be wouldn't it) but could do a LOT better. I'm waiting for them to build an extension and do it right.

Lastly what a pig to get to. Either a long walk alongside very busy traffic (great for families eh?), or through that very unfriendly underpass, eek!! I won't even mention the expensive bus service, what a cash cow that is for First.
Until they have regular service buses running through there or a new walkway across the expressway it will just be yet another event for the car drivers among us.
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