Anyone had a peek at the refurbished Kelvingrove yet ?

[Mori]

New public realm@ kelvingrove also.

[GlasWeb]

Hope they've no' shifted ra pieta!

[red_kola]

Thanks Mori.

That landscaping doesn't look so bad, I guess. We'll see if it's a genuine improvement, rather than just another unneccesary modernisation. Hope they get it ready in time...!

[glasgowken]

The gardens seem rather formal, which is no bad thing.

[Sharon]

c'mon they've included some informal planting along with the floating granite!

[glasgowken]

Each summer the whole garden will be a sea of students, & neds, so nobody will see it anyway
I hope there's a gang of wee guys with bin bags at the ready.

[dazza]

The oddest thing for me was seeing the cleaned stone inside the building - so many years of walking around the darkened surface of the original made that sight a bit of a surprise.

I kinda' liked the old dark Kelvingrove, with it's little nooks and crannies. I would often retreat there when i got the "mean reds" just to sit in the relative peacefulness and gather my thoughts. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but i'm just not sure if this new brighter, more open-plan museum will be quite the same peaceful, cosy haven it used to be.
However, i can always just console myself with Sharon's 'virtual tour':
http://www.infinite-tours.com/kelvingrove/

[glasgowken]

A bit in the Evening Times about Kelvingrove, "We want to throw off the musty image of the museum, and make it fun for all the family" (groan )

Well I suppose people who actually liked the way it was, aren't part of their key demographics anymore.

[viceroy]

I kinda' liked the old dark Kelvingrove, with it's little nooks and crannies. I would often retreat there when i got the "mean reds" just to sit in the relative peacefulness and gather my thoughts. I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but i'm just not sure if this new brighter, more open-plan museum will be quite the same peaceful, cosy haven it used to be.

Yes, have to say I agree with those sentiments.

A minor point, but I always liked the creaky old wooden floors in the upper galleries. Just formed part of the overall atmosphere. The floors will have been relaid no doubt so that’s one thing that will have gone completely. It’ll be interesting to see how the pictures are hung and presented. I’m prepared to be disappointed, although to be honest I didn’t like the way the old Kelvingrove had pictures all the way up to the top of the walls on the various landings, so you had to crane your neck just to look at them. Maybe they’ll have them at eye level now, so at least that will be an improvement. Just hope all the interactive stuff and large-scale presentations don’t overwhelm the pictures themselves.

[Shazbat]

Viceroy wrote:

I didn’t like the way the old Kelvingrove had pictures all the way up to the top of the walls on the various landings, so you had to crane your neck just to look at them. Maybe they’ll have them at eye level now, so at least that will be an improvement

I recently attended a talk given by Mark O'Neill (Head of Museums) where he described the new layout and rationale of Kelvingrove. Apparently people tended to stay on the ground level and not venture up to the picture gallery, so they are redistributing the pictures so that they are easier to view.

[viceroy]

they are redistributing the pictures so that they are easier to view.

Which, to me anyway, seems to imply that the pictures will be mixed up with other exhibits. Not sure whether I'm going to like that very much..............

Anyway, we shall see.

[AlanM]

A preview of the refurbished Kelvingrove can be seen at

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4990938.stm

[Ally Doll]

A preview of the refurbished Kelvingrove can be seen at

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_pictures/4990938.stm

Ooh, the BBC pics make it look pretty grand!

Not too sure about this


But I like this!

[glasgowken]

Does look nice
Except for those masks, load of crap. No doubt a few people will be fawning over them

[Ally Doll]

Except for those masks, load of crap. No doubt a few people will be fawning over them ::):

I'd be tempted to hit one so they all bang off one another...