Mister D
Client: Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
Date: 2018
Designer: Two Smiths
Location: Royal Tyrell Museum, Drumheller, AB
Materials: Forged steel
Scope of Project: Design, manufacturing and construction drawings, forging, fabrication and assembly
Scope of the Project
The Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology in Drumheller launched an exciting new exhibit in 2018 that was innovative on a number of levels and has been in the works for years. 3D printing and photogrammetry technologies were used to record and replicate the bones of an almost complete specimen of a 75 million year old Daspletosaur skull found near Milk River, Alberta. The Museum wanted to display the skull in a Beauchêne style so that all the bones were mounted in anatomical position but with spaces between the bones that would enable them to be viewed from all sides.
Two Smiths collaborated with Museum staff and Alberta blacksmith Lynn Gratz, on this project.
Our Design Solution
We developed a design solution that cradles rather than pinches each individual bone which allowed for more of the bone to be visible as well as enabling them to be easily removed for closer examination. The undulating lines all emerge from a central stem and where they overlap they create interesting negative space. Each bar tapers along its length and becomes thinner towards its tip, which conveys a sense of weightlessness at the point where the bones appear to be suspended mid air.
