National Museum of Singapore
Encyclopedia
The National Museum of Singapore (Chinese
: 新加坡国家博物院) is a national museum
in Singapore
and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution. After several relocations, the Museum was relocated to its permanent site at Stamford Road
at the Museum Planning Area
in 1887.
The Museum is one of the four national museums in the country, the other three being the two Asian Civilisations Museum
s at Empress Place Building
and Old Tao Nan School
, and the Singapore Art Museum
. The museum focuses on exhibits related to the history of Singapore
. The Museum was named the National Museum of Singapore in 1965. For a brief period between 1993 and March 2006, it was known as the Singapore History Museum, before reverting back to its previous name. The Museum underwent a three-and-a-half-year restoration and reopened on December 2, 2006, with the Singapore History Gallery opening on December 8 of the same year.
The revamped National Museum was officially opened by former President of Singapore
S R Nathan and Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang
on 7 December 2006.
value in Singapore and Asia
. The museum was part of an establishment of a public repository of knowledge of Malayan in a school, museum and library. This objective can be traced to a 1823 meeting called by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore
, to discuss a revival of the region's cultural heritage. The museum occupied a section of the library of the Singapore Institution, later became the Raffles Institution
. In 1874, the museum moved to the Town Hall (now known as the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall
). However, due to the growing collection in the museum, it moved back to the Singapore Institution in 1876 situated at the new wing of the institution.
The Raffles Library and Museum later moved to Stamford Road
in a new building that was commissioned by the colonial government in 1882. The museum was officially opened on 12 October 1887 which also marked the Golden Jubilee
of Queen Victoria
. The library was referred to by the locals in Malay as Rumah Kitab (house of books) or Tempat Kitab (place of books). The museum was designed by Sir Henry McCallum but a scaled down version was used as the Colonial Office rejected the initial proposal, Major J.F. McNair co-designed the later version.
In its early years, the museum was well known for its zoological and ethnographic collections of Southeast Asia
especially Malaya
and British Borneo
before the World War II
. The museum was a centre of research and knowledge, directors and curator
s were by and specialists of good research accomplishments including zoologists Richard Hanitsch
, John Moulton, Cecil Boden Kloss
, Frederick Chasen
and anthropologists HD Collings and Gibson-Hill who were also interested in ornithology
, Malay history, ethnography
and photography
. The museum was the seat of the editorial office of the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
, it was visited by scholars who were en-route to their trips to Malaya and Indonesia
. The collections included a selection of northern Nias
objects from the field trip
s of Elio Modigliani
, as well as the basketwork gifted by Dr William Abbott
, who collected them during the 1900s for the United States National Museum, later the Smithsonian Institution
.
Extensions were carried out in 1906, 1916, 1926 and 1934 due to the inadequate space for the growing number of artefact
s and book
s. During the Japanese Occupation
, the place was left intact by the Japanese occupying army due to its reputation of its Raffles collection and research integrity
. The museum split with the library with the latter forming the National Library
adjacent to the museum building in 1960 which was demolished and relocated to Victoria Street
in 2005, the former was housed in the Stamford Road building.
After Singapore's independence in 1965, the museum focused its collection to nation-building and the history of Singapore and was renamed the National Museum. Its zoological collections was moved to the biology
department of the National University of Singapore
and to some museums such as in Kolkata
in India
and Kuala Lumpur
in Malaysia. This all happened in 1969. Its most iconic artifact was the skeleton
of a blue whale
found in Port Dickson
in 1893 and was displayed from 1903 to 1969. The museum then featured exhibits on history
, ethnology
and arts
of Singapore
and the region.
Hawpar Group donated a jade
collection in January 1980. Restoration works of the building were carried out in 1985 which included a repainting of the building and restoring some of the distinctive features. After restoration, the museum was gazette
d as a national monument
on 14 February 1992. The museum came under the management of the National Heritage Board
in 1993 and was renamed the Singapore History Museum becoming the flagship of the four national museums in Singapore. The building was closed in April 2003 for extension and restoration works and the museum was temporarily relocated to Riverside Point where an exhibition known as Rivertales was displayed.
132.6 million revamp with a new annexe block behind the building on the site, which was formerly the demolished Drama Centre
. Its new wing is partially built on ground hollowed out from nearby Fort Canning Hill, and a 30-metre deep diaphragm wall was built to prevent the earth
from sinking. A foundation stone ceremony was held on 25 November 2004 and it was then the museum publicly announced the name change. The structural top out ceremony was on 28 November 2005 and the new building is twice as large as the old one. The temporary museum at Riverside closed its operation on 6 March 2006 and the new museum is scheduled to reopen on 7 December 2006.
Poor restoration works in the 1980s cost some of its architecture features to be hidden or badly damaged. The fish scaled tiles were all taken down and cleaned, all 3,000 tiles were individually numbered in order to allow it to be replaced in the correct sequence. Every row of tiles were shaped differently to match its dome's curves. Badly restored tiles were removed and new replaced tiles were made in the original zinc
material used in the old 19th century tiles made in Manchester
, England
. The condition of the tiles were badly deteriorated due to the effects of acid rain
. A titanium
-zinc-based coating was used to protect the new tiles, to prevent further oxidation and eroding
.
On the building's dome
, there are stained glass
panels, these panels were all taken down, inspected and cleaned. These panels had deteriorated due to its age and the effects of gravity on the lead works. Each panel had to be transported in a special mould and sent to a stained glass restorer who used 18th century reinforcement
techniques to restore the lead and glass works; the process took four months to complete. Modern staircases have been installed in the building to contrast the old and new. A spiral staircase
which leads to the roof of the old museum building was restored. The windows and door
s were conserved and the original type and size of timber
and 18th century carpentry techniques were used to restore the timber windows and doors. Some of the original timber works used huge timber sections made of kapur wood. These sections required about four months to source, supply, fumigate, treat, cut and deliver to the site.
The balustrades on the second floor of the old rotunda were patterned after those in London
's Royal Albert Hall
. The details of the balustrades were hidden after years of paint. The old paint was removed and a special clear coat was applied to prevent rusting of the wrought iron
and to allow the details to be visible. Plaster works were carried out on the plaster motifs, cornice
s, balustrades, capitals and carving of the old building were either deteriorated or destroyed during the earlier renovations. Skilled artisan
s from India
were brought in to recreate the plaster works which include restoring many of the windows, doors and cornices.
Its largest work done was the coat of arms of Queen Victoria
and the entire northern facade which had been destroyed. An ornate rose
timber ceiling rose in the original galleries were hidden by false ceilings constructed for air-conditioning in the 1980s. The rear of the building had few windows and replica
s had to be made for windows facing Fort Canning and timber
wood was imported from Indonesia
. A 22-metre long and 11-metre high glass
connector replaced a hard ceiling for visitors to view the museum's dome from the museum itself, whereas previously, one had to view the entire dome across Stamford Road
.
. It will feature the history of Singapore
from the 14th century in a story-telling approach. Images and film can be projected on its 15-metre high cylindrical walls. There will be a narration of the history and display of artistic expressions of the history. Other permanent exhibitions include the Singapore Living Galleries
which will feature exhibits of photography
, cuisine
, film
, fashion
and other lifestyle artifacts.
A ramp
spiral in the new building leads down to an exhibition space holding the nation's treasures which includes the Singapore Stone and 14th century gold ornaments unearthed from nearby Fort Canning Hill in 1928. There will be a 250-seat auditorium
known as The Mesh for talk
s, lecture
s and workshop
s for the young and old at the Fort Canning entrance. It will have retail
facilities as well as a cafe
and a restaurant
at the Stamford Road block of the building. Elevator
s and escalator
s have been constructed to facilitate the disabled to have access to the museum. An area will feature classroom
s and outreach programmes. A vehicular entrance can be accessed by Fort Canning Road at the new building. In the basement, there is a column
-free 1,200 m² exhibition gallery for temporary exhibits. It has insulated wall
s without window
s and the space is climatically controlled to protect the exhibits from light
and heat or humidity changes.
A resource centre will be housed in the building which will contain old book
s, photograph
s, negatives
and stamps for public viewing. National Museum introduced a new wireless
technology
which allow automatic playing of audio
and visual material when visitors enter designated zones. The museum has held several temporary exhibitions before its official opening which include a film festival
and a men's fashion show, during which the main foyer
will feature nude
male mannequins.
(NUS) and other museums in the Commonwealth
. It currently has eleven precious artifacts, namely the Singapore Stone, the Gold Ornaments of the Sacred Hill from East Java
, Dagguerreotype of Singapore Town which was one of the earliest photograph
s of Singapore, the will
of Munshi Abdullah, the portrait
of Frank Athelstane Swettenham, the hearse
of Tan Jiak Kim, a Peranakan
coffin
cover, the mace of the City of Singapore commemorating King George VI
's raising of the island's status to a city in 1951, the Xin Sai Le puppet stage, William Farquhar
's drawings of flora
and fauna
and the portrait of Shenton Thomas
, who was the former governor of Singapore. Rocks
from the nearby Fort Canning Hill were used to create two sculpture
s commissioned from Cultural Medallion
-winner Han Sai Por
.
style and consists of two rectangular parallel blocks, with a dome
at the front of the building. Its architects were Henry McCallum who designed the original version and J.F. McNair who designed the scaled down version of the building. The building has two rotunda
s, a new glass-clad rotunda at the rear area of the building. Its glass rotunda is a cylindrical
shaped building which is made up of two drum
s, with the outer one made of glass which sheathes an inner one made of wire mesh
. Black out curtains has the same length of the inner drum with images projected on sixteen projectors
in the day. The curtains are drawn after sunset
, and projection can be beamed out through the glass to get a view of the city
. Coats of arms are found on the building's front.
The redeveloped building was designed by local W Architects with the glass-clad rotunda designed inspired by Chinese American
I.M. Pei. The chief design consultant was Mok Wei Wei from W Architects, who was appointed in June 2004 and modified the designs of the glass rotunda and the atrium between the two buildings. The new glass clad building was designed such that the old building would still be the centrepiece
of the museum. A six-metre gap exists between the back of the main museum building and its new annexe as conservation guidelines do not allow old and new buildings to be directly connected. In the gallery theatre, brick
s are designed in a herringbone
brick
pattern, which helps to control the echoes
and acoustics
in the space. Initially, the designers planned to use bricks from the old National Library
building, but the cost was too expensive. Black concrete
flooring was used for the new block instead of gray granite
flooring as initially planned.
Simplified Chinese character
Simplified Chinese characters are standardized Chinese characters prescribed in the Xiandai Hanyu Tongyong Zibiao for use in Mainland China. Along with traditional Chinese characters, it is one of many standard character sets of the contemporary Chinese written language...
: 新加坡国家博物院) is a national museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
in Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and the oldest museum in Singapore. Its history dates back to 1849 when it was started as a section of a library at Singapore Institution. After several relocations, the Museum was relocated to its permanent site at Stamford Road
Stamford Road
Stamford Road is a one-way road in Singapore within the planning areas of Downtown Core and Museum. The road continues after the traffic light junction of Nicoll Highway, Esplanade Drive and Raffles Avenue towards Orchard Road. It then ends at the junction of Fort Canning Road, Bencoolen Street...
at the Museum Planning Area
Museum Planning Area
The Museum Planning Area is an urban planning area in the Central Region of Singapore. It is located in the area known as the Civic District. The area plays a "bridging role" between the Orchard Street area and the Downtown Core, which necessitates proper transport networks for vehicles,...
in 1887.
The Museum is one of the four national museums in the country, the other three being the two Asian Civilisations Museum
Asian Civilisations Museum
The Asian Civilisations Museum is an institution which forms a part of the three museums of the National Museum of Singapore. It is one of the pioneering museums in the region to specialise in pan-Asian cultures and civilisations...
s at Empress Place Building
Empress Place Building
The Empress Place Building is a historic building in Singapore, located on the north bank of the Singapore River in the Downtown Core, within the Central Area in Singapore's central business district. The building is currently the second wing of the Asian Civilisations Museum...
and Old Tao Nan School
Old Tao Nan School
The Old Tao Nan School is a historic building in Singapore, located along Armenian Street in the Museum Planning Area, within the Central Area in Singapore's central business district. The building was a wing of the Asian Civilisations Museum. The other wing of the museum is located at the Empress...
, and the Singapore Art Museum
Singapore Art Museum
The Singapore Art Museum contains the national art collection of Singapore. It has a collection of 7,750 pieces of Singaporean and Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art, and has an expanding collection of new Asian and international contemporary art.- History :Officially opened in 1996, it...
. The museum focuses on exhibits related to the history of Singapore
History of Singapore
The history of Singapore dates to the 11th century. The island rose in importance during the 14th century under the rule of Srivijayan prince Parameswara and became an important port until it was destroyed by Acehnese raiders in 1613. The modern history of Singapore began in 1819 when Englishman...
. The Museum was named the National Museum of Singapore in 1965. For a brief period between 1993 and March 2006, it was known as the Singapore History Museum, before reverting back to its previous name. The Museum underwent a three-and-a-half-year restoration and reopened on December 2, 2006, with the Singapore History Gallery opening on December 8 of the same year.
The revamped National Museum was officially opened by former President of Singapore
President of Singapore
The President of the Republic of Singapore is Singapore's head of state. In a Westminster parliamentary system, as which Singapore governs itself, the prime minister is the head of the government while the position of president is largely ceremonial. Before 1993, the President of Singapore was...
S R Nathan and Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Lee Boon Yang
Lee Boon Yang
Dr. Lee Boon Yang is a former politician from Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party , he served in the Cabinet from July 1991 to April 2009 in various portfolios including Minister for Defence, Minister for Manpower, and Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts...
on 7 December 2006.
History
The museum was established in 1849 by the then Singapore Institution Committee. It was called the Raffles Library and Museum and it exhibited items of historical and archeologicalArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
value in Singapore and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. The museum was part of an establishment of a public repository of knowledge of Malayan in a school, museum and library. This objective can be traced to a 1823 meeting called by Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of modern Singapore
Founding of modern Singapore
The founding of modern Singapore in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles paved the way for Singapore to become a modern port and established its status as a gateway between the Western and Eastern markets....
, to discuss a revival of the region's cultural heritage. The museum occupied a section of the library of the Singapore Institution, later became the Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution
Raffles Institution , founded in 1823, is the oldest centre for pre-tertiary learning in Singapore. It is an independent school in Singapore providing secondary and pre-university education. RI consists of a boys-only secondary section , and a coeducational pre-university section...
. In 1874, the museum moved to the Town Hall (now known as the Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall
Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall
The Victoria Theatre and Concert Hall is a complex of two buildings and a clock tower joined together by a common corridor and is located in the civic district of Singapore...
). However, due to the growing collection in the museum, it moved back to the Singapore Institution in 1876 situated at the new wing of the institution.
The Raffles Library and Museum later moved to Stamford Road
Stamford Road
Stamford Road is a one-way road in Singapore within the planning areas of Downtown Core and Museum. The road continues after the traffic light junction of Nicoll Highway, Esplanade Drive and Raffles Avenue towards Orchard Road. It then ends at the junction of Fort Canning Road, Bencoolen Street...
in a new building that was commissioned by the colonial government in 1882. The museum was officially opened on 12 October 1887 which also marked the Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee
A Golden Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 50th anniversary.- In Thailand :King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest-reigning monarch, celebrated his Golden Jubilee on 9 June 1996.- In the Commonwealth Realms :...
of Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
. The library was referred to by the locals in Malay as Rumah Kitab (house of books) or Tempat Kitab (place of books). The museum was designed by Sir Henry McCallum but a scaled down version was used as the Colonial Office rejected the initial proposal, Major J.F. McNair co-designed the later version.
In its early years, the museum was well known for its zoological and ethnographic collections of Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
especially Malaya
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
and British Borneo
British Borneo
British Borneo means the two parts of the island of Borneo presently part of the Federation of Malaysia, during the British colonial rule: Labuan and what was called British North Borneo .-Catholic missions:In 1687 Father Ventimiglia, a Theatine, was commissioned by Pope Innocent XI to...
before the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The museum was a centre of research and knowledge, directors and curator
Curator
A curator is a manager or overseer. Traditionally, a curator or keeper of a cultural heritage institution is a content specialist responsible for an institution's collections and involved with the interpretation of heritage material...
s were by and specialists of good research accomplishments including zoologists Richard Hanitsch
Richard Hanitsch
Karl Richard Hanitsch was a German-born entomologist and museum curator who served as the director of the Raffles Museum in Singapore in the early 20th century....
, John Moulton, Cecil Boden Kloss
Cecil Boden Kloss
Cecil Boden Kloss was an English zoologist. He was an expert on the mammals and birds of Southeast Asia.In the early 1900s Kloss accompanied the American naturalist William Louis Abbott in exploring the Andaman and Nicobar islands. From 1908 he worked under Herbert Christopher Robinson at the...
, Frederick Chasen
Frederick Nutter Chasen
Frederick Nutter Chasen was an English zoologist.Chasen was appointed Assistant Curator of the Raffles Museum in Singapore in 1921, and Director in 1932 in succession to Cecil Boden Kloss. He was an authority on Southeast Asian birds and mammals. He prepared the third and fourth volumes of...
and anthropologists HD Collings and Gibson-Hill who were also interested in ornithology
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
, Malay history, ethnography
Ethnography
Ethnography is a qualitative method aimed to learn and understand cultural phenomena which reflect the knowledge and system of meanings guiding the life of a cultural group...
and photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
. The museum was the seat of the editorial office of the Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
The Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society is a scholarly journal published by the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society or MBRAS. The journal covers topics of historical interest concerning peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Sarawak, Labuan and Singapore...
, it was visited by scholars who were en-route to their trips to Malaya and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. The collections included a selection of northern Nias
Nias
Nīas is an island off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago, containing the Hinako archipelago....
objects from the field trip
Field trip
A field trip or excursion, known as school trip in the UK and school tour in Ireland, is a journey by a group of people to a place away from their normal environment...
s of Elio Modigliani
Elio Modigliani
Elio Modigliani was an Italian anthropologist, zoologist, and plant collector. Between 1886 and 1894, he explored Sumatra and a number of islands off its western coast. Modigliani visited Enggano Island between April 25 and July 13, 1891...
, as well as the basketwork gifted by Dr William Abbott
William Louis Abbott
William Louis Abbott was a wealthy American medical doctor, explorer, ornithologist and field naturalist. He is notable for his prodigious collections of biological specimens and ethnological artefacts from around the world, especially from the Malay Archipelago, as well as for his financial...
, who collected them during the 1900s for the United States National Museum, later the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
.
Extensions were carried out in 1906, 1916, 1926 and 1934 due to the inadequate space for the growing number of artefact
Cultural artifact
A cultural artifact is a term used in the social sciences, particularly anthropology, ethnology, and sociology for anything created by humans which gives information about the culture of its creator and users...
s and book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s. During the Japanese Occupation
Japanese Occupation of Singapore
The Japanese occupation of Singapore in World War II occurred between about 1942 and 1945 after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Military forces of the Empire of Japan occupied Singapore after defeating the combined Australian, British, Indian and Malayan garrison in the Battle of Singapore...
, the place was left intact by the Japanese occupying army due to its reputation of its Raffles collection and research integrity
Integrity
Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions...
. The museum split with the library with the latter forming the National Library
Old National Library Building
The Old National Library Building was a historical building at Stamford Road in the Museum Planning Area of Singapore. Originally completed in 1960, it housed the National Library and was a national icon for many Singaporeans...
adjacent to the museum building in 1960 which was demolished and relocated to Victoria Street
Victoria Street, Singapore
Victoria Street [Tamil]: விக்டோரியா ஸ்திரீட் is a street located in the Central Area of Singapore. The street starts at Victoria Bridge at the end of Kallang Road, after the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority building, in the north and continues as Hill Street at its junction with Stamford Road...
in 2005, the former was housed in the Stamford Road building.
After Singapore's independence in 1965, the museum focused its collection to nation-building and the history of Singapore and was renamed the National Museum. Its zoological collections was moved to the biology
Biology
Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
department of the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
and to some museums such as in Kolkata
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
in Malaysia. This all happened in 1969. Its most iconic artifact was the skeleton
Skeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
of a blue whale
Blue Whale
The blue whale is a marine mammal belonging to the suborder of baleen whales . At in length and or more in weight, it is the largest known animal to have ever existed....
found in Port Dickson
Port Dickson
Port Dickson or PD to locals is a beach and holiday destination situated about 32 km from Seremban and 90 km from Kuala Lumpur. It is located in the state of Negeri Sembilan in Peninsular Malaysia...
in 1893 and was displayed from 1903 to 1969. The museum then featured exhibits on history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
, ethnology
Ethnology
Ethnology is the branch of anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity.-Scientific discipline:Compared to ethnography, the study of single groups through direct...
and arts
ARts
aRts, which stands for analog Real time synthesizer, is an audio framework that is no longer under development. It is best known for previously being used in KDE to simulate an analog synthesizer....
of Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
and the region.
Hawpar Group donated a jade
Jade
Jade is an ornamental stone.The term jade is applied to two different metamorphic rocks that are made up of different silicate minerals:...
collection in January 1980. Restoration works of the building were carried out in 1985 which included a repainting of the building and restoring some of the distinctive features. After restoration, the museum was gazette
Gazette
A gazette is a public journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.In English- and French-speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name Gazette since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers bear the name The Gazette.Gazette is a loanword from the...
d as a national monument
National Monuments of Singapore
National Monuments of Singapore are buildings and structures in Singapore that have been designated by the Preservation of Monuments Board as being of special historic, traditional, archaeological, architectural or artistic value....
on 14 February 1992. The museum came under the management of the National Heritage Board
National Heritage Board (Singapore)
The National Heritage Board is a statutory board of the Singapore Government, under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts ....
in 1993 and was renamed the Singapore History Museum becoming the flagship of the four national museums in Singapore. The building was closed in April 2003 for extension and restoration works and the museum was temporarily relocated to Riverside Point where an exhibition known as Rivertales was displayed.
Redevelopment works
The National Museum building was closed for a period of three and a half years and museum operation was temporarily located at Riverside Point. The building underwent a S$Singapore dollar
The Singapore dollar or Dollar is the official currency of Singapore. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively S$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
132.6 million revamp with a new annexe block behind the building on the site, which was formerly the demolished Drama Centre
Drama Centre
Drama Centre London is a British drama school in King's Cross, London, where it recently relocated after a major reshaping of the university. The school is part of the Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design of the University of the Arts London and is a member of the Conference of Drama...
. Its new wing is partially built on ground hollowed out from nearby Fort Canning Hill, and a 30-metre deep diaphragm wall was built to prevent the earth
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...
from sinking. A foundation stone ceremony was held on 25 November 2004 and it was then the museum publicly announced the name change. The structural top out ceremony was on 28 November 2005 and the new building is twice as large as the old one. The temporary museum at Riverside closed its operation on 6 March 2006 and the new museum is scheduled to reopen on 7 December 2006.
Poor restoration works in the 1980s cost some of its architecture features to be hidden or badly damaged. The fish scaled tiles were all taken down and cleaned, all 3,000 tiles were individually numbered in order to allow it to be replaced in the correct sequence. Every row of tiles were shaped differently to match its dome's curves. Badly restored tiles were removed and new replaced tiles were made in the original zinc
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
material used in the old 19th century tiles made in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. The condition of the tiles were badly deteriorated due to the effects of acid rain
Acid rain
Acid rain is a rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it possesses elevated levels of hydrogen ions . It can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen...
. A titanium
Titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. It has a low density and is a strong, lustrous, corrosion-resistant transition metal with a silver color....
-zinc-based coating was used to protect the new tiles, to prevent further oxidation and eroding
Erosion
Erosion is when materials are removed from the surface and changed into something else. It only works by hydraulic actions and transport of solids in the natural environment, and leads to the deposition of these materials elsewhere...
.
On the building's dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
, there are stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
panels, these panels were all taken down, inspected and cleaned. These panels had deteriorated due to its age and the effects of gravity on the lead works. Each panel had to be transported in a special mould and sent to a stained glass restorer who used 18th century reinforcement
Reinforcement
Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of increasing the rate or probability of a behavior in the form of a "response" by the delivery or emergence of a stimulus Reinforcement is a term in operant conditioning and behavior analysis for the process of...
techniques to restore the lead and glass works; the process took four months to complete. Modern staircases have been installed in the building to contrast the old and new. A spiral staircase
Stairway
Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs, or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps...
which leads to the roof of the old museum building was restored. The windows and door
Door
A door is a movable structure used to open and close off an entrance, typically consisting of a panel that swings on hinges or that slides or rotates inside of a space....
s were conserved and the original type and size of timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
and 18th century carpentry techniques were used to restore the timber windows and doors. Some of the original timber works used huge timber sections made of kapur wood. These sections required about four months to source, supply, fumigate, treat, cut and deliver to the site.
The balustrades on the second floor of the old rotunda were patterned after those in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
's Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
. The details of the balustrades were hidden after years of paint. The old paint was removed and a special clear coat was applied to prevent rusting of the wrought iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
and to allow the details to be visible. Plaster works were carried out on the plaster motifs, cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
s, balustrades, capitals and carving of the old building were either deteriorated or destroyed during the earlier renovations. Skilled artisan
Artisan
An artisan is a skilled manual worker who makes items that may be functional or strictly decorative, including furniture, clothing, jewellery, household items, and tools...
s from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
were brought in to recreate the plaster works which include restoring many of the windows, doors and cornices.
Its largest work done was the coat of arms of Queen Victoria
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom is the official coat of arms of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. These arms are used by the Queen in her official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom, and are officially known as her Arms of Dominion...
and the entire northern facade which had been destroyed. An ornate rose
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
timber ceiling rose in the original galleries were hidden by false ceilings constructed for air-conditioning in the 1980s. The rear of the building had few windows and replica
Replica
A replica is a copy closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Sometimes the original never existed. For example, Difference...
s had to be made for windows facing Fort Canning and timber
Timber
Timber may refer to:* Timber, a term common in the United Kingdom and Australia for wood materials * Timber, Oregon, an unincorporated community in the U.S...
wood was imported from Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. A 22-metre long and 11-metre high glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
connector replaced a hard ceiling for visitors to view the museum's dome from the museum itself, whereas previously, one had to view the entire dome across Stamford Road
Stamford Road
Stamford Road is a one-way road in Singapore within the planning areas of Downtown Core and Museum. The road continues after the traffic light junction of Nicoll Highway, Esplanade Drive and Raffles Avenue towards Orchard Road. It then ends at the junction of Fort Canning Road, Bencoolen Street...
.
Facilities
The museum will have a permanent 2,800 m² gallery space at the new glass clad building within a glass rotunda known as the Singapore History GallerySingapore History Gallery
The Singapore History Gallery is 2800 metre square gallery located whithin the vicinity of the National Museum of Singapore.The gallery adopts a story-telling approach unveiling different perspectives through tales of the past.-History:...
. It will feature the history of Singapore
History of Singapore
The history of Singapore dates to the 11th century. The island rose in importance during the 14th century under the rule of Srivijayan prince Parameswara and became an important port until it was destroyed by Acehnese raiders in 1613. The modern history of Singapore began in 1819 when Englishman...
from the 14th century in a story-telling approach. Images and film can be projected on its 15-metre high cylindrical walls. There will be a narration of the history and display of artistic expressions of the history. Other permanent exhibitions include the Singapore Living Galleries
Singapore Living Galleries
The Singapore Living Galleries are located within the vicinity of the National Museum of Singapore. Each of them are categories into four groups, Film and Wayang, Fashion, Food and Photography...
which will feature exhibits of photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
, cuisine
Cuisine of Singapore
Singaporean cuisine is indicative of the ethnic diversity of the culture of Singapore, as a product of centuries of cultural interaction owing to Singapore's strategic location...
, film
Cinema of Singapore
Despite having a flourishing Chinese and Malay film industry in the 1950s and 1960s, Singapore's film industry declined after independence in 1965. There were a few films that featured Singaporean actors and were set in Singapore, including Saint Jack and They Call Her Cleopatra Wong...
, fashion
Fashion
Fashion, a general term for a currently popular style or practice, especially in clothing, foot wear, or accessories. Fashion references to anything that is the current trend in look and dress up of a person...
and other lifestyle artifacts.
A ramp
Inclined plane
The inclined plane is one of the original six simple machines; as the name suggests, it is a flat surface whose endpoints are at different heights. By moving an object up an inclined plane rather than completely vertical, the amount of force required is reduced, at the expense of increasing the...
spiral in the new building leads down to an exhibition space holding the nation's treasures which includes the Singapore Stone and 14th century gold ornaments unearthed from nearby Fort Canning Hill in 1928. There will be a 250-seat auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
known as The Mesh for talk
Colloquium
Colloquium can refer to:* the Parliament of Scotland, called a "colloquium" in Latin records.* any musical piece celebrating birth or distribution of good news, a hymn...
s, lecture
Lecture
thumb|A lecture on [[linear algebra]] at the [[Helsinki University of Technology]]A lecture is an oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, for example by a university or college teacher. Lectures are used to convey critical information, history,...
s and workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
s for the young and old at the Fort Canning entrance. It will have retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
facilities as well as a cafe
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
and a restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
at the Stamford Road block of the building. Elevator
Elevator
An elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s and escalator
Escalator
An escalator is a moving staircase – a conveyor transport device for carrying people between floors of a building. The device consists of a motor-driven chain of individual, linked steps that move up or down on tracks, allowing the step treads to remain horizontal.Escalators are used around the...
s have been constructed to facilitate the disabled to have access to the museum. An area will feature classroom
Classroom
A classroom is a room in which teaching or learning activities can take place. Classrooms are found in educational institutions of all kinds, including public and private schools, corporations, and religious and humanitarian organizations...
s and outreach programmes. A vehicular entrance can be accessed by Fort Canning Road at the new building. In the basement, there is a column
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
-free 1,200 m² exhibition gallery for temporary exhibits. It has insulated wall
Wall
A wall is a usually solid structure that defines and sometimes protects an area. Most commonly, a wall delineates a building and supports its superstructure, separates space in buildings into rooms, or protects or delineates a space in the open air...
s without window
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
s and the space is climatically controlled to protect the exhibits from light
Light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
and heat or humidity changes.
A resource centre will be housed in the building which will contain old book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s, photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s, negatives
Negative (photography)
In photography, a negative may refer to three different things, although they are all related.-A negative:Film for 35 mm cameras comes in long narrow strips of chemical-coated plastic or cellulose acetate. As each image is captured by the camera onto the film strip, the film strip advances so that...
and stamps for public viewing. National Museum introduced a new wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
technology
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
which allow automatic playing of audio
Sound
Sound is a mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.-Propagation of...
and visual material when visitors enter designated zones. The museum has held several temporary exhibitions before its official opening which include a film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
and a men's fashion show, during which the main foyer
Foyer
A foyer or lobby is a large, vast room or complex of rooms adjacent to the auditorium...
will feature nude
Nudity
Nudity is the state of wearing no clothing. The wearing of clothing is exclusively a human characteristic. The amount of clothing worn depends on functional considerations and social considerations...
male mannequins.
Artifacts
The museum used to house a vast collection of zoological items, but were transferred to the National University of SingaporeNational University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....
(NUS) and other museums in the Commonwealth
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
. It currently has eleven precious artifacts, namely the Singapore Stone, the Gold Ornaments of the Sacred Hill from East Java
Java
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, Dagguerreotype of Singapore Town which was one of the earliest photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s of Singapore, the will
Will (law)
A will or testament is a legal declaration by which a person, the testator, names one or more persons to manage his/her estate and provides for the transfer of his/her property at death...
of Munshi Abdullah, the portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
of Frank Athelstane Swettenham, the hearse
Hearse
A hearse is a funerary vehicle used to carry a coffin from a church or funeral home to a cemetery. In the funeral trade, hearses are often called funeral coaches.-History:...
of Tan Jiak Kim, a Peranakan
Peranakan
Peranakan Chinese and Baba-Nyonya are terms used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to the Indonesian archipelago of Nusantara during the Colonial era....
coffin
Coffin
A coffin is a funerary box used in the display and containment of dead people – either for burial or cremation.Contemporary North American English makes a distinction between "coffin", which is generally understood to denote a funerary box having six sides in plan view, and "casket", which...
cover, the mace of the City of Singapore commemorating King George VI
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
's raising of the island's status to a city in 1951, the Xin Sai Le puppet stage, William Farquhar
William Farquhar
Major-General William Farquhar was an employee of the East India Company, and the first Resident of colonial Singapore.-Early life:Farquhar was born at Newhall, Aberdeenshire, near Aberdeen in 1774, and joined the East India Company as a cadet when he was 17...
's drawings of flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...
and fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...
and the portrait of Shenton Thomas
Shenton Thomas
Sir Thomas Shenton Whitelegge Thomas, GCMG, GCStJ was the last Governor of the Straits Settlements, 1934–1942 during which time World War II began. He died at age 82...
, who was the former governor of Singapore. Rocks
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
from the nearby Fort Canning Hill were used to create two sculpture
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
s commissioned from Cultural Medallion
Cultural Medallion
The Cultural Medallion is a Singapore cultural award conferred to those who have achieved artistic excellence in dance, theatre, literature, music, photography, art and film....
-winner Han Sai Por
Han Sai Por
Han Sai Por is a Singaporean sculptor. A graduate of the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts , East Ham College of Art, Wolverhampton College of Art and Lincoln University, New Zealand, she worked as a teacher and later as a part-time lecturer at NAFA, the LASALLE-SIA College of the Arts, and the...
.
Architecture
National Museum was designed in Neo-Palladian and RenaissanceRenaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
style and consists of two rectangular parallel blocks, with a dome
Dome
A dome is a structural element of architecture that resembles the hollow upper half of a sphere. Dome structures made of various materials have a long architectural lineage extending into prehistory....
at the front of the building. Its architects were Henry McCallum who designed the original version and J.F. McNair who designed the scaled down version of the building. The building has two rotunda
Rotunda (architecture)
A rotunda is any building with a circular ground plan, sometimes covered by a dome. It can also refer to a round room within a building . The Pantheon in Rome is a famous rotunda. A Band Rotunda is a circular bandstand, usually with a dome...
s, a new glass-clad rotunda at the rear area of the building. Its glass rotunda is a cylindrical
Cylinder (geometry)
A cylinder is one of the most basic curvilinear geometric shapes, the surface formed by the points at a fixed distance from a given line segment, the axis of the cylinder. The solid enclosed by this surface and by two planes perpendicular to the axis is also called a cylinder...
shaped building which is made up of two drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s, with the outer one made of glass which sheathes an inner one made of wire mesh
Mesh
Mesh consists of semi-permeable barrier made of connected strands of metal, fiber, or other flexible/ductile material. Mesh is similar to web or net in that it has many attached or woven strands.-Types of mesh:...
. Black out curtains has the same length of the inner drum with images projected on sixteen projectors
Video projector
A video projector is an image projector that receives a video signal and projects the corresponding image on a projection screen using a lens system. All video projectors use a very bright light to project the image, and most modern ones can correct any curves, blurriness, and other...
in the day. The curtains are drawn after sunset
Sunset
Sunset or sundown is the daily disappearance of the Sun below the horizon in the west as a result of Earth's rotation.The time of sunset is defined in astronomy as the moment the trailing edge of the Sun's disk disappears below the horizon in the west...
, and projection can be beamed out through the glass to get a view of the city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
. Coats of arms are found on the building's front.
The redeveloped building was designed by local W Architects with the glass-clad rotunda designed inspired by Chinese American
Chinese American
Chinese Americans represent Americans of Chinese descent. Chinese Americans constitute one group of overseas Chinese and also a subgroup of East Asian Americans, which is further a subgroup of Asian Americans...
I.M. Pei. The chief design consultant was Mok Wei Wei from W Architects, who was appointed in June 2004 and modified the designs of the glass rotunda and the atrium between the two buildings. The new glass clad building was designed such that the old building would still be the centrepiece
Centrepiece
A centrepiece is an important item of a display, usually of a table setting. Centrepieces help set the theme of the decorations and bring extra decorations to the room. A centrepiece also refers to any central or important object in a collection of items.-Purpose:On the table, a centrepiece is a...
of the museum. A six-metre gap exists between the back of the main museum building and its new annexe as conservation guidelines do not allow old and new buildings to be directly connected. In the gallery theatre, brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
s are designed in a herringbone
Herringbone
Herringbone can refer to:*A layout of airline seating – see Herringbone seating*A bonding pattern of brickwork, also known as opus spicatum*A weaving pattern of tweed or twill cloth – see Herringbone *A cross-stitch pattern...
brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...
pattern, which helps to control the echoes
Echo (phenomenon)
In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound, arriving at the listener some time after the direct sound. Typical examples are the echo produced by the bottom of a well, by a building, or by the walls of an enclosed room and an empty room. A true echo is a single...
and acoustics
Acoustics
Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of all mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician while someone working in the field of acoustics...
in the space. Initially, the designers planned to use bricks from the old National Library
National Library, Singapore
The National Library in Singapore is located on an 11,304-square metre site between Bugis Junction and the Bras Basah Complex at 100, Victoria Street...
building, but the cost was too expensive. Black concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
flooring was used for the new block instead of gray granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
flooring as initially planned.
See also
- Singapore History GallerySingapore History GalleryThe Singapore History Gallery is 2800 metre square gallery located whithin the vicinity of the National Museum of Singapore.The gallery adopts a story-telling approach unveiling different perspectives through tales of the past.-History:...
- Singapore Living GalleriesSingapore Living GalleriesThe Singapore Living Galleries are located within the vicinity of the National Museum of Singapore. Each of them are categories into four groups, Film and Wayang, Fashion, Food and Photography...
- Goh Seng Choo GalleryGoh Seng Choo GalleryThe Goh Seng Choo Gallery is located within the National Museum of Singapore. the gallery host the collection of William Farquhar`s natural history drawings. The gallery is named after the museum`s chairman, Mr G.K. Goh's late father Mr Goh Seng Choo in his honor...
- William Farquhar Collection of Natural History DrawingsWilliam Farquhar Collection of Natural History DrawingsThe William Farquhar Collection of Natural History Drawings consists of 477 watercolour botanical drawings of plants and animals of Malacca and Singapore by unknown Chinese artists that were commissioned between 1819 and 1823 by William Farquhar...