Scott Keir sings the praises of science venues. I’d like to talk about a particularly important science centre for Nature Networkers—the venue for our forthcoming bloggers conference.
London’s Royal Institution is perhaps the most august scientific site on the planet. If buildings had CVs, the Ri would boast the discovery of 10 chemical elements among its previous roles, list 14 Nobel Prizes in its achievements, and cite Michael Faraday, Humphry Davy and William Bragg as referees.
The building has been closed for two years for major rebuilding. I took a hardhat tour a few days back to see how the refit is progressing. Apart from the lecture theatre, the Ri is still very much a building site. The new atrium, cafe, bar, exhibition space and public-facing laboratory are filled with dust, drills and plywood. The paintings are in plastic sheeting. Yet in just two week Queen Elizabeth II will reopen the building.
Fortunately, many areas are nearing completion. The classical external façade has been preserved and restored in a tasteful cream colour. On top, a special plank for the rooftop equivalent of defenestration seems to have been installed. Bad lecturers be warned.
Inside, the Faraday theatre looks stunning in purple and blue. This is the space where the main lectures will take place during our blogging conference. Speakers will be treading the boards once occupied by these prestigious scientists.
At the conference, we’ll also have access to a number of smaller rooms, including a pair of libraries and several anterooms. Those who want to can also explore the exhibition spaces, where you can talk to a holographic Michael Faraday and learn more about all those Nobel Prizes and chemical elements.
More details on the venue can be found in my previous site tour, and read the inside story of the lecture hall from the Royal Institution’s own historian.
This is all getting quite exciting, to think of the bloggers all congreating there! Thanks for the nice post, Matt.
make that congregating, sorry!
That’s quite a pink on the seating, Matt. But the all important question is… will it match my tie, no, is the legroom any better? Apparently, Victorians al had legs less than two feet long.
Victorians all had legs less than two feet long
For some reason this statement confused me.
Victorians all had legs less than two feet long
They needed no legroom, if the old seats in the Ri lecturehall (and many London theatres) were anything to go by. The events were great there, but sitting in a row halfway up, I usually found my knees above the top of the chair in front, with my shins gently rubbing against the chair back. I presume therefore, that Victorians all had short legs.
Ah, glad to be reassured that they did have feet, then ;-)
It was more the concept of legs with less than or more than two feet that intrigued me ;-)
Is the colour scheme realy as ghastly as it looks in the illo (which looks s long way from my idea of purple and blue…)
I think the idea is to keep the honorable fellows awake during the
boringstimulating talks.Much like the Senate, in fact:
Well, the image was taken without flash, so looks a little less garish with the naked eye. It matches the livery of the Ri website.