Dulwich Picture Gallery
London
Another building by Sir John Soane, Dulwich Picture Gallery, launched Building on Our Past(funded by HLF), a two-year pilot programme, in 2002. The emphasis is on extending an understanding of architecture normally reserved for professionals to a much wider audience including school children and teachers, lifelong learners and family groups. This encompasses tours of the building, practical architectural drawing classes, construction workshops, and hands-on sessions using a variety of interactive resources. Six specially commissioned models explore issues ranging from Soane’s efforts to determine the final version of the Gallery to ‘miniature clay bricks’ which ‘illustrate the complexities in bricklaying and different styles of bonding.’
These models are used in a regular weekly schools programme, Explore Buildings, which can be adapted for both primary and secondary schools. Regular family days explore architecture and take a different theme each time such as Edible Structures, featuring a competition to create a cake in the shape of a building, and Light and Mood, taking the Gallery’s top lighting and the mausoleum’s coloured glass as inspiration. Large numbers attend these events which take place in the Gallery grounds. In addition, a free children’s trail, Soane’s Spaces, enables independent learning for informal visits. For adults regular lectures are given by both local and nationally known architects.
Future ideas to extend the programme include long term secondary school projects exploring the local built environment, and commissioning a new interactive model to explore the materials and construction processes within the Gallery’s contemporary extension. UK
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