Walter Gropius and Exhibition Design
I came across an interesting book in the CSM Library:
Miles, R.S. (ed.) 'The Design Of Education Exhibits' BM (Natural History Museum), 2nd Ed 1988
It is now rather an interesting historical resource rather than a text book on education design but does have some useful insights, and it is fascinating in that it is written towards the beginning of the use of Computer interactives when the Science museums were the only people doing interactivity.
Anyway, in the introduction he pinpoints Gropius Bauhaus Baugewerkschafts Austellung (Building Workers Union Exhibition)., 1931
as being the point at which exhibitions begin to be visitor friendly - i.e. purposely design with the ebb and flow of the visitor in mind. He talks of the space being divided into areas, giving a logical sequence, with a smooth flow,curved walls and a bridge built to provide drama.
The method he presents is one in which the Gallery has to be designed from the top down, while the message needs to be written from the bottom up and these two things have to be keep in mind (and presumably) in balance the whole way through the process.
He also refers to Otto Neurath and his 'Vienna Method' a system of creating diagrams to explain complex issues which were used in his Social and Economic Museum in Vienna.
See here for information on Otto Neurath
and here to see some Isotype diagrams.
The book refers to the Shettles Exhibition Categories which is a system of evaluating exhibitions - see next post. and he describes the advantages of dividing up a room into areas to make the exhibition more directed. He describes these systems as being regimented. Object emphasis can be by Size, Colur, isolation, shape or by lighting or background texture.
He refers to the use of numbering to make sure people know which way around an exhibition to proceed (used in Horniman Museum) .
The section on interactives is quite interesting - he is very keen to make sure that button pressing devices are not truly interactive they are simply dymamic as there is no real interaction between the action and the people. so exhibition can be divided into:
Static
Dynamic
Interactive
Miles, R.S. (ed.) 'The Design Of Education Exhibits' BM (Natural History Museum), 2nd Ed 1988
It is now rather an interesting historical resource rather than a text book on education design but does have some useful insights, and it is fascinating in that it is written towards the beginning of the use of Computer interactives when the Science museums were the only people doing interactivity.
Anyway, in the introduction he pinpoints Gropius Bauhaus Baugewerkschafts Austellung (Building Workers Union Exhibition)., 1931
as being the point at which exhibitions begin to be visitor friendly - i.e. purposely design with the ebb and flow of the visitor in mind. He talks of the space being divided into areas, giving a logical sequence, with a smooth flow,curved walls and a bridge built to provide drama.
The method he presents is one in which the Gallery has to be designed from the top down, while the message needs to be written from the bottom up and these two things have to be keep in mind (and presumably) in balance the whole way through the process.
He also refers to Otto Neurath and his 'Vienna Method' a system of creating diagrams to explain complex issues which were used in his Social and Economic Museum in Vienna.
See here for information on Otto Neurath
and here to see some Isotype diagrams.
The book refers to the Shettles Exhibition Categories which is a system of evaluating exhibitions - see next post. and he describes the advantages of dividing up a room into areas to make the exhibition more directed. He describes these systems as being regimented. Object emphasis can be by Size, Colur, isolation, shape or by lighting or background texture.
He refers to the use of numbering to make sure people know which way around an exhibition to proceed (used in Horniman Museum) .
The section on interactives is quite interesting - he is very keen to make sure that button pressing devices are not truly interactive they are simply dymamic as there is no real interaction between the action and the people. so exhibition can be divided into:
Static
Dynamic
Interactive
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