Architecture festival to unveil dinosaur sculpture

A restored dinosaur sculpture will be unveiled on Sunday as part of the London Festival of Architecture.

The sculpture of Palaeotherium Magnum, a large extinct mammal distantly related to horses, will be revealed at the Tertiary Island in Crystal Palace Park.

Built in 1854 the site hosts over 30 life-sized sculptures of prehistoric animals, including dinosaurs and enjoys hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

After the unveiling at the Grade one listed historic site, there will be comments from the artists, historians, scientists, and park custodians who collaborated to deliver this unusual project.

There will also be two expert led guided tours by professors around the Tertiary Island and free guide sheets developed by the Beyond the Dinosaurs project offering in-depth detail on features of the site including fossil mammals, the geological illustrations and plants.

Beyond the Dinosaurs is a collaborative project between King’s College London  and the charity Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs looking to research the lesser-known features of the Crystal Palace site.

Crystal Palace Park Trust has supported the charity Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs with a grant to complete the sculpture as part of its small grants programme in Crystal Palace Park.

Pictured top: The restored sculpture with an archival photo of the original (Picture: Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs and Crystal Palace Foundation)