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The Geological Museum
The Geological Museum (originally The Museum of Practical Geology, started in 1835 and therefore one of the oldest single science museums in the world) transferred from Jermyn Street to Exhibition Road, South Kensington in 1935. When it was re-opened in 1935 it became well known for the many stunning dioramas (three-dimensional paintings) used to interpret geology and one or two mining techniques. These are in the process of being broken up by the new proprietors, The Natural History Museum who took it over between 1985 and 1988.
In 1971 an enlightened directorship and staff employed the late designer James Gardiner to design and produce The Story of the Earth, which was acknowledged as a significant breakthrough in science museum design and critically acclaimed and imitated worldwide. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II and became well known for the huge reproduction of a rock face, cast from site in Scotland, and for its planetarium, active volcano model and earthquake machine. Between 1971 and 1974 the museum formed its own award-winning design team which, working closely with the scientists and technicians, produced a series of temporary and permanent exhibitions starting with the re-presentation of the gem collection, then with a design team led by Giles Velarde (Head of Exhibition Design from 1974-1988), produced Early Days of Geology in Britain, Black Gold, Britain Before Man, Journey to the Planets, British Fossils, Pebbles, Treasures of the Earth and finally British Offshore Oil and Gas, which opened in 1988.
Treasures of the Earth was the first major museum gallery in the world to integrate computers presenting images and text adjacent to artefacts as part of the information process within the exhibition. The central feature film, Liquid Assets, in the Oil and Gas exhibition was shot and viewed vertically from a circular gallery and won a major award from the IVCA in 1989.
By 1998, the museum had been fully absorbed by The Natural History Museum and transformed into a multimedia exhibition entitled The Earth Galleries. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geological_Museum)
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