Dome

Exterior, "louvered" sandstone panels with windows in Chambers Street facade; Benson & Forsyth (Gordon Benson and Alan Forysth) were nominated for the Stirling Prize in 1999 for the Museum of Scotland design, their first major building (winning competition design, 1991). The spaces and shapes echo Modernism and Le Corbusier, but also reference the context of Old Town. The yellow Moray sandstone cladding also speaks to Scottish history. The main feature is the circular entrance tower, which echoes the Edinburgh castle battery (the Half Moon Battery). The center has a dramatic seven story high triangular glass atrium flooded with daylight. Stairs and walkways connect the galleries on the different levels. The building was controversial in part because it adjoins the (former) Royal Museum, a very notable Victorian Italianate building (1861-1888). The two collections (Museum of Scotland and Royal Museum) were formally merged under the name National Museum of Scotland in 2006. The collections in the 1998 building cover Scottish history in an essentially chronological arrangement, beginning with prehistory to the early medieval period at the lowest level, with later periods in the higher levels. Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 6/27/2012)