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Recent years
A few galleries were redesigned in the 1990s including the Indian, Japanese,
Chinese, iron work, the main glass galleries and the main silverware gallery
which was further enhanced in 2002 when some of the Victorian decoration
was recreated. This included two of the ten columns having their ceramic
decoration replaced and the elaborate painted designs restored on the ceiling.
As part of the 2006 renovation the mosaic floors in the sculpture gallery were
restored—most of the Victorian floors were covered in linoleum after the
Second World War. After the success of the British Galleries, opened in 2001,
it was decided to embark on a major redesign of all the galleries in the
museum; this is known as "FuturePlan", and was created in consultation with
the exhibition designers and masterplanners Metaphor. The plan is expected
to take about ten years and was started in 2002. To date several galleries have
been redesigned, notably, in 2002: the main Silver Gallery, Contemporary; in
2003: Photography, the main entrance, The Painting Galleries; in 2004: the
tunnel to the subway leading to South Kensington tube station, New signage
throughout the museum, architecture, V&A and RIBA reading rooms and
stores, metalware, Members' Room, contemporary glass, the Gilbert
Bayes sculpture gallery; in 2005: portrait miniatures, prints and drawings,
displays in Room 117, the garden, sacred silver and stained glass; in 2006:
Central Hall Shop, Islamic Middle East, the new café, sculpture galleries.
Several designers and architects have been involved in this work. Eva
Jiřičnádesigned the enhancements to the main entrance and rotunda, the new
shop, the tunnel and the sculpture galleries. Gareth Hoskins was responsible
for contemporary and architecture, Softroom, Islamic Middle East and the
Members' Room, McInnes Usher McKnight Architects (MUMA) were
responsible for the new Cafe and designed the new Medieval and Renaissance
galleries which opened in 2009.
Recently, controversy surrounded the museum's proposed building of an £80
million extension called The Spiral, designed by Daniel Libeskind, which was
criticised as out of keeping with the architecture of the original buildings. The
Spiral's design was described by some as looking like jumbled cardboard
boxes. In September 2004, the museum's board of trustees voted to abandon
the design after failing to receive funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund.
The central garden was redesigned by Kim Wilkie and opened as
the John Madejski Garden, on 5 July 2005. The design is a subtle blend of the
traditional and modern, the layout is formal; there is an elliptical water feature
lined in stone with steps around the edge which may be drained to use the
area for receptions, gatherings or exhibition purposes. This is in front of the
bronze doors leading to the refreshment rooms, a central path flanked by
lawns leads to the sculpture gallery; the north, east and west sides have
herbaceous borders along the museum walls with paths in front which
continues along the south façade; in the two corners by the north façade there
is planted an American Sweetgum tree; the southern, eastern and western
edges of the lawns have glass planters which contain orange and lemon trees
in summer, these are replaced by bay trees in winter.
At night both the planters and water feature may be illuminated, and the
surrounding façades lit to reveal details normally in shadow, especially
noticeable are the mosaics in the loggia of the north façade. In summer a café
is set up in the south west corner. The garden is also used for temporary
exhibits of sculpture, for example a sculpture by Jeff Koons was shown in
2006. It has also played host to the museum's annual contemporary design
showcase, the V&A Village Fete since 2005.
The collection departments are further divided into sixteen display areas,
whose combined collection numbers over 6.5 million objects, not all items are
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displayed or stored at the V&A. There is a repository at Blythe House, West
Kensington, as well as annex institutions managed by the V&A,
also the
Museum lends exhibits to other institutions. The following lists each of the
collections on display and the number of objects within the collection.
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