Project : Royal Manuscripts Client : The British Library, London Completed : 2011

Enabling visitors to get close to the beautiful detail of the exhibits

Urban Salon were exhibition designers for the British Library’s 2011 temporary exhibition of their Royal collection of manuscripts collected by kings and queens of England from the 9th to the 16th century.

The key challenge was enabling visitors to get close to the exquisite detail of the decorative and figurative painting in the manuscripts to life. Urban Salon designed bespoke freestanding display cases that oriented the manuscripts towards the viewer and angled the case tops to the same angle as the displayed books. The design used distinct colour treatments that highlighted the significance of the colours in the manuscripts and to reinforce the different chapters in the curatorial thesis.

‘The British Library’s Royal Manuscripts exhibition brings ancient illustrated manuscripts back to shimmering, captivating life.’

The Daily Telegraph, 11 November 2011.