Architecture Update: Dinosaur damage

OUTRAGE has been expressed by the Victorian Society at the internal alterations to the Natural History Museum, South Kensington. The new Dinosaur Gallery designed by the architect Ron Herron and opened this year has caused 'irreparable damage' to the original terracotta interior of the Grade I listed building and 'ruined the proportions of the principal internal spaces'. The Society, which claims that the building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse in 1871, is 'one of the great masterpieces of Victorian architecture', says the changes took place without proper consultation. 'The museum's cavalier disregard of its responsibilities is a shameful tale,' it adds, and concludes that the museum's 'sense of totality has been torn apart over the last decades'.