2G4 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL. 



[ArcvsT, 



ANOTHER PROJECT FOR THE ENLARGEMENT OF 

 THE BRITISH iMUSEUM. 



In all prolialjility most of our readers have seen Mr. Iloskinnr's 

 j)I:in for erecting a s|)acious rotunda in the inner quadraiijfle of the 

 Uiitisli .Museum; and we here suhmit to tliein aucjther, wliifh, 

 wlictljer it be a better <ine or not, is certainly not borrowed from 

 liis, it having been produced upwards of a twelVemoutli ago, by the 

 author of the plan and elevation of a Corinthian octastyle for the 

 facade of tlie Museum, published in the Civil E ni/iiieer and Archi- 

 tect's Joiiriml, just before the present Ionic one was begun. In- 

 deed, it is so far from being singular that the idea of providing 



additional and much-wanted accommodation, by erecting buihlings 

 for the i)urpose within the quadrangle, should have occurred to two 

 individuals wholly unacquainted with each other's intentions, that 

 tlie only surprising thing is that the architect of the Museum should 

 have thrown awav so much space; and not only space, hut so much 

 expensive work also, ])utting decorated stone fronts w here thev can- 

 not be seen, wliilcmauy parts of the exterior, which are in contact 

 with, and come into view together with t)je farade, exliihit merely 

 plain brick walls. Hardly does such contradictory treatment of 

 what is exposed and what is concealed say much for either the 

 economy or the judgment of Sir Robert Smirke — who being now 

 professionally defunct, may be spoken of — that is, in his pi-ofessi(Uial 

 capacity, with as little ceremony as if he were actually dead and 



gone, more especially as we take liim to be quite indifferent to 

 either praise or censure. 



Had no more regard been paid to appearance in the inner court 

 than on the sides of the exterior, there might have been very little 

 scruple to making alterations in the former; but now there must 

 naturally be considerable reluctance on the part of the trustees to 

 cut up and destroy — for destroyed it would be — what has had so 

 miu^h money expended upon it. Even should necessity at last get 

 the better of not wholly unreasonable objections, desirable it would 

 still be that additions made within the quadrangle should interfere 

 as little as possible %vith any of the existing buildings around it. 

 Nevertheless. Mr. Hosking proposes to remove a considerable por. 

 tion of wall, both on the east and the west side of the court. 

 Now, putting expense out of the question, it would be attended 

 with exceedingly great inconvenience during the whole of the time 

 it was being carried into effect, particularly in the Royal Library, 

 which would, after all, hardly be improved by the alteration, un- 

 less further change were to be nuide, and its centre compartment 

 he as much extended eastward as it would be westward, or on the side 

 next the present quadrangle. Resides that any extension whatever 

 of that library is not at all recjuired; as it cannot be thrown open to 

 the ])ublic, an immediate ccunmunication between it and the cen- 

 tral rotunda, would, perhaps, be rather undesirable than otherwise. 

 A similar remark applies to the other libraries forming the north 

 range of buildings. Mr. Hosking appears, in fact, to have taken 

 carte blanche for making alterations in, as well as additions to, the 

 actual building; inasnmch as he further proposes that the present 

 staircase — the most scenic bit in the wliole interior — should be 

 demolished, in order to obtain there an additional gallery. It is 

 true, he provides a much more spacious staircase, in a line with 

 the entrance-hall and his rotunda; and the new staircase might, 

 perhaps, in point of architectural effect, be more striking than the 

 existing one; as to which, however, we cannot pretend to speak from 

 a mere plan, more especially as that part of the plan requires in 

 the absence of a section, a good deal of verbal explanation to 

 render it sufficiently intelligible. Still, great as the improvement 

 might be, so much of both doing and undoing would be terribly 

 expensive work, and likely very greatly to exceed what Mr. Hos- 

 king hints at as its probable cost. 



Even were his design pruned down, the rotunda proposed by 

 him would be not only so large, but so lofty a mass, that it « ould 

 in a maniu'r (piite choke up the quadrangle, and greatly obstruct 

 light, as the dome would be about sixty feet higher than the other 

 ' uildings. Unless there be already more light than is found neces- 

 sary, it would be expedient to keep whatever galleries might 

 be erected within the court as low as possible, consistently with 

 regard to good proportions. Whether that would be satisfactorily 

 accom]dished by the plan here exhibited, we leave it to others 

 to decide after reading the explanation of it, which we begin by 

 observing that alteration of what already exists would be couliued 

 to the entrance-hall; not, however, that it would be absolutely ne- 

 cessary, but it would be a comparatively trilling one in comparison 

 with the great improvement effected by it, by rendering that hall 

 much more striking in effect as well as symmetrical in plan, as the 

 staircase would then occupy a central situation on the west side, 

 instead of having, as at present, too much the look of being thrust 

 into a corner. In the corridor leading from the hall to the new 

 glyptotheca, or rotunda, would be two flights of steps leading 

 down to the latter, which, in order to gain height, would be upon 

 a lower level, by about ten feet, than the first hall. ."Vnd so far 

 from being at all objectionable, such descent, which would assume 

 quite a different character from a staircase, would be found to con- 

 tribute to picturesque variety; while the corridor itself — so to call 

 it, miglit be made to serve in some degree as an additional gallery, 

 although only one of approach, or a vestibule to the glyptotheca. 



As regards the last-mentioned ajiartment, althouifh it would 

 resemble Mr. Hosking's in a general circularity of plan, it would 

 differ essentially from that — and, indeed, from almost all other 

 structures of a similar kind — inasmuch as it would form a double 

 rotunda, an outer and an inner one, the former being a spacious 

 circular gallery surrounding and enclosing the other. The germ 

 of the idea may be fimnd in the so-called Glyptotheca of the 

 Colosseum in the Regent's Park, a most ])icturesque and tastefully- 

 arranged interior; but which, being only part of an exhibition 

 speculation, does not possess any of that prestige which usually 

 awes the many into admiration — at least, into the hypocrisy of 

 affecting to admire, merely because they are ashamed to confess 

 their ignorance or their indifference. 



The idea so deri\ ed is, however, differently treated, and further 

 developed; a rotunda covered with a dome being substituted for 



