Bathed in filtered daylight beneath Norman Foster’s iconic glass and steel roof, the British Museum’s Queen Elizabeth II Great Court encircles the historic Reading Room at its centre. This architectural space — the largest covered public square in Europe — merges 19th-century neoclassical design with cutting-edge engineering. Completed in 2000, it transforms the museum’s once-underused courtyard into a monumental gathering space. Sunlight casts intricate lattice shadows across the curved walls and sweeping staircases, evoking both order and fluidity — a fitting metaphor for the museum’s role as a guardian of global culture.
