The New Ashmolean

The Ashmolean Museum claims to be the oldest public museum in Britain and perhaps it is. Maybe it depends on one’s point of view. 

The New Ashmolean is certainly visionary. Rick Mather Architects with exhibition designers Metaphor (great name!) have created a new, glassy addition to the old Neoclassical Museum to create a seamless modern museum in traditional, ultra-conservative, Oxford. The concept of exhibiting the stunning collection by themes is not unheard of but is a bit unusual, shall we say?

As an architect and regular visitor to Oxford, I found the transformation extraordinary. Yes, the ‘classics’ so-to speak are still mainly contained in specialist galleries, so my beloved Italians are still mostly within their periods.

What I found thrilling on my first visit during our January 2010 snowfalls, though, is how the curators managed to find common links between textiles produced thousands of miles apart and somehow make the story work. The same thread (ouch!) permeates the other themes. For example, who, apart from the genius now managing the Museum would have thought to have a theme on Beauty and then to hang great works of art from as diverse 18^th century cultures as Japan and Italy next to each other?

It works, if you can think laterally, or make use of the (inevitable, nowadays) audio-guides or lunchtime guided walks, but I suppose for the general tourists it may all be a little bit confusing, nonetheless. After all we are normally taught to think in a straight, logical and historical line. Architects and art-lovers aren’t like that, so we just wend our chaotic way through whatever comes up. And, I love it, the materials, the stairs, the colours, the ‘mix’.

The last includes the rather enticing rooftop Ashmolean Dining Room, which is managed by benugo, a fairly clued-up pair of brothers (Ben and Hugo), who have restaurants, cafes and concessions throughout the UK, including at the V&A. In March my gremolata encrusted sea bream was more than just acceptable. For more information about the Ashmolean Dining Room, read Nick Lander (FT Weekend food crtitic) reviews on www.jancisrobinson.com. 

contributed by Patricia Stefanowicz MW

Photographs to follow