ODA Park Interpretation Plan
November 2010
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Describe in no more than 100 words what attracted your organisation to this opportunity? URS/ Scott Wilson leading our panel of experts - Metaphor, AIG, Creative Concern have been energised by the multi-disciplinary challenge of conveying the story of transforming this area of London.
Interpretation Plans > Olympic Park at the Olympic Museum (Lausanne)
> National Trust sites (Tyntesfield, Wimpole and Mottisfont)
> Great Court, British Museum
Olympic Park Knowledge
(Metaphor)
> Legible London
> Environmental Site
Assessments for Venues, London 2012 Bid
> Sustainability Programme Advice, London 2012 Bid
> Olympic Park
Implementation of Signage / Digital Media
ODA Park Interpretation Plan
Consultation Strategy
(URS/ Scott Wilson)
Sustainability Communication Strategies > Clean Air Now Campaign
(Transportation Innovation Fund)
> Love Your Bike Campaign (Friends of the Earth)
> Green Spot (Forestry Commission)
(Creative Concern)
> Bristol Legible City > ICONS - A Portrait of England
(AIG)
O v e rv ie w of past pr oject
The case study by Metaphor that addresses all parts of question 2 is a major interpretation and design project on an urban scale: the re-masterplanning of the Great Court at the British Museum (BM) and the design and delivery of the First Emperor exhibition. The Visitor Experience here had to be completely re-configured including queuing, ticketing, retail and wayfinding in order to convert the historic Grade 1-listed Round Reading Room into an exhibition space. The exhibition was subject to a documentary recording its making, and audience evaluation was used during the design stage and after opening. Stakeholders included the Chinese Government as the project also cemented Anglo-Chinese relations, the Chinese community in the UK, school groups and learned societies.
I n nov a tiv e appr oaches
For us there is no boundary between interpretive design in exhibitions and in landscapes. In both cases we use physical interventions that are interpretive. These range from story maps to furniture, earthworks, set works, and art installations. At the Museum we constructed a Jade Ring symbolising the Chinese universe under the great pantheon dome, East and West together. Film and projections were used extensively, and the Terracotta warriors were displayed so that visitors could stand and walk amongst them and thus became actors engaging with the artefacts. The exhibition consisted of two landscapes, one representing the First Emperor’s earthly life, the other his eternal life. This provided the Narrative Structure. The Dome space was blacked out to feel like a tomb, queuing included a pre-show, and the entry became a journey round the perimeter of the exhibition in relative darkness to heighten the drama.
B ri ti sh Museum Interpretati o n Plan
Engaging with stakeholders and a c h i e v i n g o b j e c t i ve s
We worked closely with advisors providing detailed qualitative audience evaluation during the design process. The initial surveys revealed how much the audiences liked the idea of passing through a threshold from one world to another. The postopening evaluation revealed that visitors liked being taken on a journey, and immersed in a new world. Crucially, many new audiences were reached who had never before been to the Museum.
Evidence of success
The audience target was 600,000 visitors; 830,000 attended. The exhibition was critically acclaimed and won numerous awards. The BM (take out) project describes our ability to deliver technically complex projects, work with different interest groups, and use audience evaluation and above all work as storytellers.
Bri tis h M us eum G re a t C o u rt e x h i b i ti o n e n tra nce
E ns uring q uality, on tim e on b u d g e t
Construction included complex issues of bringing materials into the museum outside of opening hours, which required detailed forward planning and pre-fabrication of components. The exhibition was completed within a budget agreed with the British Museum.
The same exhibition and interpretive design techniques are currently being applied by us in a number of landscape interpretation projects. These include Fountains Abbey,Wallington,Tyntesfield, Wimpole and Mottisfont for the National Trust, and the Olympic Park at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Our most complete landscape from a story-telling point of view is at Hardwick Park in County Durham.