# Metaphor (designers) > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Metaphor_(designers) > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Metaphor_(designers).md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor_(designers) > Source revision: 1283554265 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) London-based design firm This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. See our advice if the article is about you and read our scam warning in case someone asks for money to edit this article. (November 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article contains promotional content. Please help improve it by removing promotional language and inappropriate external links, and by adding encyclopedic text written from a neutral point of view. See our advice if the article is about you and read our scam warning in case someone asks for money to edit this article. (November 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Metaphor Type Private company Industry Designer and Master planner Founded 2000; 26 years ago (2000) Founder Stephen Greenberg and Rachel Morris Headquarters London , United Kingdom Area served Worldwide Key people Kara Dickinson (Managing Director) Services Museum master planning, architecture, design, story-planning, text writing, content research, financial sustainability, brief writing, facilitating workshops, consultation, and working with funders. Website www.metaphor-design.co.uk/about **Metaphor** is a British design firm based in [London](/source/London) that specialises in museum and exhibition spaces re-designs. It provides master planning, exhibition design and architecture design for existing museums, galleries and other exhibition spaces. ## History ### Foundation The company was established in 2000 by Stephen Greenberg and Rachel Morris, Metaphor specializes in the re-design of museums, palaces, forts, landscapes, and country houses through master planning and design. ### Projects 2000 - 2007 In 2000 Metaphor's work in museums began with the master plan of the [Victoria and Albert Museum](/source/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum) (V & A). From 2003 to 2011, Metaphor was the master planner and lead designer at the [Grand Egyptian Museum](/source/Grand_Egyptian_Museum) in [Giza](/source/Giza), [Cairo](/source/Cairo). It is one of the largest planned archaeological museums in the world. [1] Metaphor first worked at the [British Museum](/source/British_Museum) when it designed the exhibition on [Michelangelo](/source/Michelangelo) in 2005. At the time, it broke the museum's audience records, with 160,000 people seeing it.[2] *The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Warriors* at the [British Museum](/source/British_Museum) in London. Metaphor used the curved walls of the [Round Reading Room](/source/British_Museum_Reading_Room) to hold projections, acting as a theatrical backdrop. [Rachel Campbell-Johnston](/source/Rachel_Campbell-Johnston) said that "exhibition designers and curators have to work hard to create a sense of spectacle. But they succeed brilliantly. The museum’s great Round Reading Room has been temporarily adapted into an atmospheric show space".[3] The exhibition was seen by 850,000 people, 37% of whom had never been to the [British Museum](/source/British_Museum) before.[4] ### Projects 2007 - 2020 In 2007, Metaphor designed the *Surreal Things* exhibition at the [V & A](/source/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum). [Stephen Bayley](/source/Stephen_Bayley), writing for [The Observer](/source/The_Observer), called it "comprehensive, fascinating, engaging and instructive".[5] [Rachel Campbell-Johnston], writing for *[The Times](/source/The_Times)*, said 'the psychological mood starts to possess you'.[6] The exhibition was redesigned to appear at the [Guggenheim Museum Bilbao](/source/Guggenheim_Museum_Bilbao), running from 2007 to 2008. It was seen by 575,000 visitors, making it one of the most successful [V & A](/source/Victoria_and_Albert_Museum) touring exhibition ever.[7] Opening in 2009. Metaphor redesigned 32 permanent galleries at the [Ashmolean Museum](/source/Ashmolean_Museum) in [Oxford](/source/Oxford).[8][9] In 2010, Metaphor planned, renovated, and displayed the [Museum of the Order of St John](/source/Museum_of_the_Order_of_St_John) in [Clerkenwell](/source/Clerkenwell). It tells the story of the Knights of the Order of St John, the Crusades, and their later history. In 2011, the [Holburne Museum](/source/Holburne_Museum) in Bath reopened, after a complete re-design by Metaphor.[10] Metaphor displayed the central collection as if reflecting the mind of its eccentric 18th-century collector.[11] In 2013, Metaphor redesigned the [Olympic Museum](/source/Olympic_Museum) in [Lausanne](/source/Lausanne), a museum of the renewal of the Olympics by [Pierre de Coubertin](/source/Pierre_de_Coubertin) and the Olympic Legacy. It also designed and curated the Parc Olympique, including new routes, sight lines, welcome sequences, and lighting. ### Company relaunch 2020 - Present In 2020 the company was relaunched with Kara Dickinson as Managing Director. In 2022, Metaphor created a new visitor experience for the [Old Royal Naval College](/source/Old_Royal_Naval_College) in Greenwich.[12] ## Heritage Metaphor has undertaken many projects in the wider cultural and heritage sector, including with [National Trust](/source/National_Trust) properties, [Historic Royal Palaces](/source/Historic_Royal_Palaces), and [Wordsworth Trust](/source/Wordsworth_Trust). Clients have included [Hampton Court Palace](/source/Hampton_Court_Palace), [Fountains Abbey](/source/Fountains_Abbey), [Wordsworth Trust](/source/Wordsworth_Trust), [Hardwick Hall Country Park](/source/Hardwick_Hall_Country_Park), [Coughton Court](/source/Coughton_Court), [Winchester Cathedral](/source/Winchester_Cathedral), [Winchester College](/source/Winchester_College), and [Tyntesfield](/source/Tyntesfield).[13] ## Museum of Marco Polo Metaphor curated a website called The Museum of Marco Polo, which explored what a Museum was and the changing relationship between the physical museum space and the virtual visitor. It includes the History of the Museum, and an explanation of how The Museum of Marco Polo came to be located on the island of [Büyükada](/source/B%C3%BCy%C3%BCkada), near [Istanbul](/source/Istanbul). It is illustrated by the award-winning[14] graphic novelist [Isabel Greenberg](/source/Isabel_Greenberg). ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["The Grand Egyptian Museum starts limited guided tours"](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/news/cairo-grand-egyptian-museum-tours). *Lonely Planet*. Retrieved 2023-07-07. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ...*[\[1\]](http://www.metaphor.eu/exhibitions/michelangelo/)* Metaphor, Michelangelo... 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ...*[\[2\]](https://archive.today/20080905071120/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article2423601.ece)*Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times ... 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ...*[\[3\]](http://www.metaphor.eu/exhibitions/first-emperor/) [Archived](http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20141122104150/http%3A//www.metaphor.eu/exhibitions/first%2Demperor/) 2014-11-22 at the Portuguese Web Archive* Metaphor, First Emperor... 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ...*[\[4\]](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2007/mar/25/design.surrealismatthevanda)* Stephen Bayley, The Guardian, March 2007... 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ...*[\[5\]](https://web.archive.org/web/20150213203753/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/visualarts/article2422073.ece)* Rachel Campbell-Johnston, The Times, March 2007... 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ...*[\[6\]](http://www.metaphor.eu/exhibitions/surreal-things-bilbao/)* Metaphor, Surreal Things Bilbao... 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** *[\[7\]](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-reviews/6487538/The-reopening-of-The-Ashmolean-review.html)* Richard Dorment, The Telegraph, November 2009 1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** *[\[8\]](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2009/oct/26/ashmolean-museum-architecture)*Jonathan Glancey, The Guardian, October 2009 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Transforming Bath's Art Museum: Progress"](https://web.archive.org/web/20101001173446/http://www.holburne.org/progress/). [Holburne Museum](/source/Holburne_Museum). Archived from [the original](http://www.holburne.org/progress) on 2010-10-01. Retrieved 2010-11-01. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ...[http://www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/holburne-museum-bath-new](http://www.theartsdesk.com/visual-arts/holburne-museum-bath-new)... 1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** ["Metaphor presents new visitor experience at The Nelson Room"](https://blooloop.com/museum/news/metaphor-completes-work-nelson-room/). Blooloop. March 31, 2022. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** ..."[\[9\]](http://www.metaphor.eu/heritage/) [Archived](http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20141122084450/http%3A//www.metaphor.eu/heritage/) 2014-11-22 at the Portuguese Web Archive"Metaphor, Heritage... 1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ..."[\[10\]](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/nov/06/observer-graphic-short-story-prize-greenberg)"Rachel Cooke, The Observer, November 2011... --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Metaphor (designers)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor_(designers)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphor_(designers)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.