iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Replies

Theodore Grunewald @tedgrunewald.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I adore everything about the @amnh.org —*EXCEPT* their relatively recent, boringly third-rate redo of the beloved, mid-1970s Hall of Gems & Minerals. (via @lloydalter.bsky.social: web.archive.org/web/20191112...)

@lloydalter@mastodon.social @lloydalter· Oct 26, 2017
I loved the rocks and minerals at the NY American Museum of Natural History. It closes today; a look back.

https://treehugger.com/interior-design/another-one-bites-dust-goodbye-american-museum-natural-historys-gem-and-mineral-gallery.html

Theodore Grunewald @TedGrunewald
Excepting 2 cases & a handful of freestanding specimens, Pederson's 1976 design was ADA-compliant—ramps skillfully threaded through it all.
2:39 PM · Oct 26, 2017

Source: https://x.com/TedGrunewald/status/923620171721461763

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Theodore Grunewald @TedGrunewald
T/Y!
Though not called out in plan, the long, narrow passageway along the bottom is a series of aligned ramps affording access to platforms.
2:45 PM · Oct 26, 2017

Theodore Grunewald @TedGrunewald · Oct 26, 2017
In fact, b/c so many cases were placed low to the floor—the 1976 hall provided a better experience for the disabled than the new design will.

Theodore Grunewald @TedGrunewald · Oct 26, 2017
Carpeting—when kept clean & regularly maintained—provided an opportunity for adults & kids to sit cross-legged on the floor for close study.

Source: https://x.com/TedGrunewald/status/923621738843394049

Fred Scharmen@sevensixfive.bsky.social

OH at the American Natural History Museum (from a seven year old): “team, we did it, we found the whale.”

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Randall Smith @rksmith.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I’ll have to disagree strongly here; I found the hall fascinating and have gone back multiple times. I never saw the original, but to my mind the layout was engaging and fun.

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Theodore Grunewald @tedgrunewald.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

It's over-lit. While pushing my friend in a wheelchair, they became increasingly frustrated, since they couldn't adequately see the majority of the specimens because the cases and their contents were too high on the wall. The experience compares quite poorly to the previous installation.

AMNH Hall of Gems and Minerals post-reinstallation.

AMNH Hall of Gems and Minerals pre-reinstallation.

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