Young V&A

Young V&A, formerly the V&A Museum of Childhood, is a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum (the "V&A"), which is the United Kingdom's national museum of applied arts. It is in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, and specialises in objects by and for children. In 2024 it was awarded the Museum of the Year prize.

History
The museum was founded in 1872 as the Bethnal Green Museum. However, the iron structure was a prefabricated building originally constructed at Albertopolis, South Kensington in 1856-7, which was displaced by the construction of early phases of the present V&A complex. The exterior elevations of the building were designed by James William Wild in red brick in a Rundbogenstil (round-arched) style very similar to that in contemporary Germany and using a cast iron structure manufactured by Charles Denoon Young and Company. The similarity to contemporary industrial stuctures led to the disparaging name of the building as the 'Brompton Boilers'. This is effect is modified by mosaic panels along both long elevations illustrating agriculture, the arts and sciences; these were from designs by F.W. Moody and made by female students of the South Kensington Museum mosaic class. .

In Bethnal Green, the building was used to display a variety of collections at different times. In the 19th century, it contained food and animal products, and various pieces of art including the works which can now be seen at the Wallace Collection. It was remodelled as an art museum following World War I, with a children's section which subsequently grew in size.

For many years some of the collection of the V&A's scultures by Auguste Rodin, including those donated by the artist, were exhibited at Bethnal Green, alongside childhood-related dispays.

A white painted iron statue cast by John Bell in 1851, was displayed at Bethnal Green from 1927 to 2017. It came originally from the Great Exhibition of 1851. The Eagle slayer shows a marksman shooting at an eagle which has slain the lamb that lies at his feet. This is now on long-term loan to the Coalbrookdale Museum since it was cast in the Coalbrookdale Foundry.

The museum is a Grade II* listed building.

Recent History
Young V&A has the largest collection of childhood related objects in the United Kingdom. In 1974 the director of the V&A, Sir Roy Strong, defined it as a specialist museum, re-displayed as The Museum of Childhood.

The mission of the museum today is stated as "To enable everyone, especially the young, to explore and enjoy the designed world, in particular objects made for and made by children." It has extensive collections of toys, childhood equipment and costumes, and stages a programme of temporary exhibitions.

The museum closed in October 2003 for extensive renovations of the roof structure, re-display of the collections, construction of learning centre at lower ground floor and the creation of a new entrance, costing £4.7 million. The entrance was designed by Caruso St John Architects 'patterned elevations of red quartzite and brown porphyries, to gives the Museum the formal front and outward aspect that it previously lacked'. . It reopened in December 2006.

In 2019 a further transformation of the museum began. "Over 30,000 objects which had been on display or in storage at the museum" were audited and packed. After temporary storage at South Kensington, they were to join the rest of the V&A East Museum at Stratford Waterfront "in a few years time".

The museum's reopened on 1 July 2023. . In June 2023, museum director Tristram Hunt instructed the removal of two books on gender and sexual orientation and a poster from the charity Stonewall that read "Some people are trans, get over it!", from the museum ahead of its reopening. The V&A Staff LGBTQ Working Group and trade unions PCS and Prospect opposed the removals. Union representatives appealed the decision in a meeting with Hunt, who rejected their request to have the items returned to the museum.