Reimagining​ ​the​ ​Lansdowne​ ​Dining​ ​Room​ ​Using​ ​the​ ​Met’s​ ​Open​ ​Access​ ​Collections

The​ ​British​ ​Galleries​ ​of​ ​the​ ​Metropolitan​ ​Museum​ ​of​ ​Art​ ​are​ ​closed​ ​for​ ​renovation​ ​until approximately​ ​fall​ ​2018.​ ​Reinstalling​ ​these​ ​galleries​ ​also​ ​means​ ​reimagining​ ​three​ ​British​ ​period rooms,​ ​including​ ​the​ ​Dining​ ​Room​ ​from​ ​Lansdowne​ ​House​ ​(1760s).​ ​As​ ​is​ ​often​ ​the​ ​case,​ ​the moveable​ ​objects​ ​that​ ​used​ ​to​ ​decorate​ ​this​ ​interior​ ​space​ ​are​ ​no​ ​longer​ ​traceable​ ​today. Fortunately,​ ​the​ ​museum​ ​has​ ​a​ ​vast​ ​collection​ ​of​ ​decorative​ ​arts​ ​and​ ​sculpture​ ​to​ ​be​ ​able​ ​to replace​ ​the​ ​lost​ ​items.​ ​The​ ​Met’s​ ​Open​ ​Access​ ​collections​ ​data​ ​is​ ​available​ ​as​ ​a​ ​downloadable Comma​ ​Separated​ ​Value​ ​(.CSV)​ ​file​ ​on​ ​Github.​ ​By​ ​exploring​ ​this​ ​data​ ​we​ ​aim​ ​to​ ​find​ ​all​ ​artworks that​ ​could​ ​be​ ​relevant​ ​for​ ​display​ ​in​ ​the​ ​Lansdowne​ ​Dining​ ​Room.​ ​We​ ​reduced​ ​the​ ​total​ ​amount of​ ​454,084​ ​objects​ ​to​ ​1,724​ ​items​ ​related​ ​to​ ​this​ ​particular​ ​room,​ ​based​ ​on​ ​filters​ ​like​ ​period, location​ ​and​ ​classification.​ ​The​ ​task​ ​of​ ​making​ ​a​ ​final​ ​sub​ ​collection​ ​of​ ​artworks​ ​to​ ​be​ ​exhibited in​ ​a​ ​period​ ​room​ ​is​ ​usually​ ​reserved​ ​to​ ​curators.​ ​With​ ​the​ ​online​ ​interactive​ ​visualization​ ​we made​ ​you​ ​can​ ​step​ ​into​ ​their​ ​shoes​ ​and​ ​try​ ​it​ ​yourself.