Outlook Tower

Outlook Tower

Outlook Tower is a building in Edinburgh, Scotland, on the Royal Mile next to Edinburgh Castle. Known as "Short's Observatory, Museum of Science and Art" from 1853 to 1892, it was purchased and refurbished by Patrick Geddes in 1892 to transform into a "place of outlook and a type-museum as a key to a better understanding of Edinburgh and its region, but also to help people get a clear idea of its relation to the world at large".[1] The building is now known as "Camera Obscura & World of Illusions".

Part of the Old Edinburgh School of Art in Ramsay Lane, on the corner of Castlehill, Geddes renamed Short's Observatory as the Outlook Tower, incorporating Maria Short's Camera Obscura and mounted his Civic Survey of Edinburgh exhibition. Patrick Geddes was a committed believer in the exhibition as a vehicle of education. The exhibition though constructed and opened to the public, was relatively short-lived and never completed.

Outlook Tower Today

The tower, with its three floors of exhibitions, is still open to the public, making it the oldest purpose built attraction in the city,and one of the oldest in the United Kingdom.[citation needed] Nowadays there are passing references to Patrick Geddes in the Camera Obscura presentation on the top floor where the camera obscura is still in use to project a 'virtual' tour of the city for visitors, and also on the rooftop terrace with its stunning views and very powerful telescopes. But there are many more things to do, see and play with in the World of Illusions on the other floors where there is a huge variety of hands on interactive exhibits on the themes of optical illusions, light, colour and ways of seeing.

Other Outlook Towers

The concept of Outlook Tower was tried elsewhere. When 70 years Patrick Geddes moved to Montpellier, France where he bought land on a hill with a view over the city, built a house and incorporated another Outlook Tower. The house became the Scots College (College Des Ecossais).

References

  1. ^ Anon. (1906). "A geographic exhibition at the Outlook Tower, Edinburgh". Geographical Teacher 3, 268–271.

External links


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