After our visit to Queen's University, our group headed towards Belfast city center, and, from there, some of us chose to go to the Titanic Museum, part of the Titanic Quarter of Belfast.
The Titanic Museum is an imposing piece of architecture, at the heart of the Titanic Quarter. The Quarter itself is one of the world's largest urban-waterfront zones, covering 185 acres and funded by hundreds of investors. A commercial area, it includes docks, shops, and parks, as well as educational centers and a few residences. It is set along the River Lagan and the quays where it meets the Irish Sea. At the turn of the century, this was a center of activity, with a huge boost in Belfast's economy, partially due to the shipyards located there. This area produced thousands of jobs, employing people to make individual ship materials (woven rope, hemp cloth, etc) as well as laborers to build the colossal steamships, and professionals to staff them (doctors, engineers, sailors, stewardesses, etc). Today, the people of the Titanic Quarter aspire to continue to grow and enhance the area, hoping to attract more residents and tourists.
The Titanic Museum began its construction in 2009 and opened in 2012, on the year of the hundredth anniversary of the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage. It is located in the middle of the Titanic quarter, near where the ship itself was built. The building, with four symmetrical sides, reminds the viewer of the prow of the titanic itself. It is home to a large exhibit on the story of the Titanic, which tells the tale of the ship, starting with the beginning of shipbuilding in Belfast and ending with the discovery of the wreck.
The Titanic Museum is an imposing piece of architecture, at the heart of the Titanic Quarter. The Quarter itself is one of the world's largest urban-waterfront zones, covering 185 acres and funded by hundreds of investors. A commercial area, it includes docks, shops, and parks, as well as educational centers and a few residences. It is set along the River Lagan and the quays where it meets the Irish Sea. At the turn of the century, this was a center of activity, with a huge boost in Belfast's economy, partially due to the shipyards located there. This area produced thousands of jobs, employing people to make individual ship materials (woven rope, hemp cloth, etc) as well as laborers to build the colossal steamships, and professionals to staff them (doctors, engineers, sailors, stewardesses, etc). Today, the people of the Titanic Quarter aspire to continue to grow and enhance the area, hoping to attract more residents and tourists.
The Titanic Museum began its construction in 2009 and opened in 2012, on the year of the hundredth anniversary of the Titanic's ill-fated maiden voyage. It is located in the middle of the Titanic quarter, near where the ship itself was built. The building, with four symmetrical sides, reminds the viewer of the prow of the titanic itself. It is home to a large exhibit on the story of the Titanic, which tells the tale of the ship, starting with the beginning of shipbuilding in Belfast and ending with the discovery of the wreck.
This museum was very enjoyable. It was less focused on people that the other museum visits I had seen previously (namely the Titanic Exhibition that passed through the Denver Museum of Nature and Science). But gave me a much better idea of the conditions that formed the Titanic, economically and socially. I really enjoyed this contextual view of the story. More often than not, we hear of the Titanic all on its own, as if this giant ship had sprung out of nowhere, only to disappear at once into the ocean. In truth, very specific conditions gave rise to a ship like Titanic, and the exhibit did a good job of explaining this, and giving the viewer the understand that, as outlandish as it seems to us now, and as spectacular as it was at the time, the Titanic was very well thought out, and very much a product of the times.
While I could go on and on about the ship itself, I'm going to talk about the Titanic museum itself for the bulk of this post. This museum was simply amazing, especially in its use of technology. Guests are able to interact with touchscreens (that work better than any other exhibit touchscreens I've ever tried) to look at blueprints, files, photos, and flowcharts. These programs were all clean, well designed, and easy to use. They mixed the information with new technology in a very successful way.
While I could go on and on about the ship itself, I'm going to talk about the Titanic museum itself for the bulk of this post. This museum was simply amazing, especially in its use of technology. Guests are able to interact with touchscreens (that work better than any other exhibit touchscreens I've ever tried) to look at blueprints, files, photos, and flowcharts. These programs were all clean, well designed, and easy to use. They mixed the information with new technology in a very successful way.
Other interesting aspects were a large-scale projection that was placed on a floor and wall, which responded to where the guest was stepping. For instance, the blueprint would be laid out along the floor and where a guest stepped on one room, the information for it became visible on the wall. In one part of the exhibit, a projection on three walls showed a 270 degree view of the inside of the Titanic. The rooms on the discovery around the wreckage had screens that allow guests to explore the site, zooming in on different objects, which gave both an idea of what people found and how scattered it was.
All of this was seamlessly inserted into the more traditional side of the exhibit, which had large panels with information and photos, replicas of parts of the ship, artifacts and so on. I enjoyed the usage of both of these aspects of museums. This way, guests could choose their preferred speed and method of viewing the information, and switch from one to the other as they saw fit. The design aspects of the technological and non-technological aspects were very similar, so everything seemed to be cohesive parts of a whole, and the technology was fully integrated rather than being a curious parlor trick stuck into an informative exhibit, which seems to happen a lot in with other exhibits.
All of this was seamlessly inserted into the more traditional side of the exhibit, which had large panels with information and photos, replicas of parts of the ship, artifacts and so on. I enjoyed the usage of both of these aspects of museums. This way, guests could choose their preferred speed and method of viewing the information, and switch from one to the other as they saw fit. The design aspects of the technological and non-technological aspects were very similar, so everything seemed to be cohesive parts of a whole, and the technology was fully integrated rather than being a curious parlor trick stuck into an informative exhibit, which seems to happen a lot in with other exhibits.
The most extravagant part of the exhibit is the Shipyard Ride, where guests ride in small roller-coaster like carts through a replica of the shipyard where the Titanic was built. While this seemed rather superfluous, I certainly enjoyed the ride, especially the way it brought the guests into the world of the shipyard. It was certainly the showiest part of the exhibit, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it. I've never seen any museum with something like that, so it was a fun experience.
The Titanic Museum was a great place to visit. Not only did I learn a lot about the Titanic, I got to see one of the practical applications for what I am studying. So many of the technological parts of the exhibit had animation portions in them, it was rather exciting. This sort of animation is something that I will have the skills to create when I leave UCD, and seeing is out "in the real world" was pretty thrilling. As far as museums go, this was one of the most educational ones I've been to, where I got to learn both about the Titanic and about potential future jobs in my field of study.
The Titanic Museum was a great place to visit. Not only did I learn a lot about the Titanic, I got to see one of the practical applications for what I am studying. So many of the technological parts of the exhibit had animation portions in them, it was rather exciting. This sort of animation is something that I will have the skills to create when I leave UCD, and seeing is out "in the real world" was pretty thrilling. As far as museums go, this was one of the most educational ones I've been to, where I got to learn both about the Titanic and about potential future jobs in my field of study.