THE LION AND THE UNICORN: TAXIDERMY AND THE VERTICAL GARDEN OF PLEASURES

by Silvia Galofaro

This 21st-century reading of an urban pleasure garden is inspired by aspects of London’s historical approach to leisure and entertainment, and extends to the site of the Natural History Museum where the 1851 Great Exhibition was held. The revisited 1951 Festival of Britain is reflected in the title ‘The Lion and the Unicorn’ where originally the soul and conflicting elements of British character were presented as a pavilion through the notion of homonymy. The Lion alluded to establishment, tradition, strength and dependability while the Unicorn was whimsy and, at moments, mercurial and capricious. In this instance, this dualism is translated into the architectural language where the Lion takes on a calculated rigor inspired by baroque geometry, to contrast with the unicorn of modern glass and steel. This Janus-faced approach continues into the program that alternates between the science and praxis of freeze dried-mount taxidermy, and the pleasures of urban landscapes.