The Smithsonian, one of America's most prestigious institutions, is in talks to set up a museum at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London.
The former site of the London 2012 Olympics is to be developed as a new cultural hub and will feature outposts from a range of institutions, including the V&A and Sadler's Wells, alongside new university campuses.
 The Smithsonian Institution Building stands close to the National Mall in Washington DC |
The project is being touted as "Olympicopolis" or "Borisopolis", drawing links with the area of South Kensington dubbed "Albertopolis" - so named for the wealth of museums and cultural facilities built in the area by Prince Albert during the 19th century.
The mayor of London Boris Johnson announced last year: "The idea behind Olympicopolis is simple and draws on the extraordinary foresight of our Victorian ancestors.
"We want to use Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park as a catalyst for the industries and technologies in which London now leads the world in order to create thousands of new jobs."
The Smithsonian was founded in 1846 after James Smithson, a British scientist, left his entire fortune "to the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge among men."
The institution's 19 museums cover everything from the arts to the sciences and contain a combined total of 137m artefacts.
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