Manifesto
The Main Points:
The purpose of the Museum is space to educate and inspire.
The Museum should feel comfortable and evoke feelings of wonder and awe.
The Museum’s interior and exterior design should support the content (and focus) of the museum.
The Museum should be a central and integral space for a community.
*At the ticket desk (or entrance) every museum should have a stack of sketchbooks (of different sizes) and pencils that visitors can take with them on their visit to the museum. When they leave they can tear their page out, or leave it in. The sketchbooks will act as a part of the museum’s visitor-archive.
The Purpose:
The purpose of the Museum is to educate and inspire.
The museum should have exhibitions that are thoroughly researched and the findings would be on display for visitors to absorb. The delivery of the supporting information should change depending on the exhibition — it could be wall text, audio, video or even a handheld booklet or tablet, or a mix of all of these. The important thing is that the information would be delivered in a way that fits the content of the exhibition. Visitors would leave the museum having learned something new and feeling inspired. Inspired to be creative, to think, to research etc… The museum should be a starting place to learn about new material, and it would provide extra materials to the visitor to continue learning once they left the museum. The goal is to make visitors think outward and inward
The purpose image examples, booklet found online, Matisse Exhibition at Moma (which had really good explanatory videos and text throughout the exhibition) and pen at Cooper Hewitt .
The Feeling:
The Museum should feel comfortable and evoke feelings of wonder and awe.
A visitor should feel physically comfortable in the museum. They would find plenty of places to sit, rest and think. There should be plenty of outdoor spaces, and a well designed, comfortable, reasonably priced cafe serving delicious food and coffee. A visitor should feel like the museum is a second home in the same way that a park is. The contents of the museum, the way they are displayed (lighting, cases, colors) and the space itself should evoke feelings of awe and wonder.
The feeling image examples, MET, Museum of Jurassic Technology and Bakeri (bakery in Williamsburg)
The Space:
The Museum’s interior and exterior design should support the content (and focus) of the museum.
The space (architecture, interior design and landscaping) and the contents of the museum should work in tandem to support each other. They work together to create an environment of learning, community, inspiration and wonder. There should be serious consideration put into what contents and information goes on each floor (or is in each section) of the museum. It is important to think about what is underground, what is at ground level and what is above ground level. The flow of the space is an important consideration in how the information and contents of the museum is delivered. When designing the museum, the team must always put themselves in the shoes of the visitor and ask:
-Is this space supporting our community?
-Is this space comfortable?
-Is this space supporting education?
-Is this space leaving room for inspiration?
-Is this space evoking wonder and awe?
The space image examples, Dia: Beacon, The Noguchi Museum and The National Museum of African American History and Culture
Community/Personal:
The Museum should be a central and integral space for a community.
The museum should be a place where someone can go alone or with a group and feel equally comfortable. It should be built in such a way that a visitor can go there to find peace and quiet, as well as community and lively conversation. Debates should be had here and agreements should be made. It is a space to discuss the contents of the museum and consider what the meaning of the material is. It must also be a place that acts as the central point for local communities. It must serve its visitors and create spaces and programs for anyone to come use, whether they are visiting the museum exhibitions or not. Most spaces in the museum must be free of charge for the public so they know that the museum is their own space that they can visit many many times and gain something new each time. It should be an integral part a community. The museum is a central space for a community to utilize in a variety of different ways. In this way, a museum is very much like a public park.
Community photo examples The Brooklyn Museum, MASS MoCA, Moma PS1:
