Suchergebnisse

Museum buildings have clear behavioral functions; they also have symbolic functions, to express the privileged space and valuable objects they contain. This research looks closely at a recently-completed museum building in Denver, Colorado. Located in a regional city in the middle of the United States, the Denver Art Museum explicitly wanted to replicate the success of the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao with its new wing. This case study utilizes a multi-method approach, with findings based on interviews with key stakeholders, archival data, and direct observations of the building and the spaces it creates.From the beginning, the Hamilton Building had functions to fulfill beyond preserving and displaying art: it was to be its own fundraising tool, to represent Denver to the world and the Museum to Denver residents, and to draw cultural tourists in the same way that the Guggenheim museum drew tourists to Bilbao. As such, with a bond approved by the voters, the selection committee hired Daniel Libeskind as the primary architect, based on his personality, political savvy, and exuberant conceptual design. The form of the building fulfills the programmatic requirements of the bond, while simultaneously fulfilling more symbolic functions. Its image is used as one of six in an international marketing campaign to boost tourism to Denver. The building is written about in the local, national, and international press, and while not all comments are positive, it does draw attention to Denver. The irregular spaces for art push curators and exhibition designers to be creative in how art is displayed, even changing art display tactics in the older, square-walled building. Artists generally like creating art specifically for the space, and one of the most successful shows in the building allowed visitors to watch art getting created and installed--an idea that was completely new to the Museum. In conclusion, a new museum type has emerged, one where the building is as important as the art. This building type serves as a fundraising and advertising tool, not only the museum but also the city.

"Research in Social Factors, also called Environment and Behavior Studies or Person-Environment Relations, is research into the human experience of the built environment. Even since its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, as a response to the perceived failures of Modernism, Social Factors continues to ask questions about how people use space, and what meaning that space holds. This edited collection brings together cutting-edge research and contemporary issues into one book. Divided into two parts, the chapters in this collection demonstrate the continuing relevance of, and the wide array of topics in, the field. The first section, History and Future Outlook, addresses the field itself, investigating its history and common terms and updating seminal work. The second section, Perspectives on the User, surveys contemporary research into the human side of design, understanding the built environment through the lens of valuing 'the user', a term which encompasses everyone from Native Americans to children to adults with disabilities to entire cities devastated by tornadoes. Contributors to this volume include emerging and established scholars, as well as practitioners, and touch on issues of sustainability, history, culture, new media, disaster recovery, health, and recreation. This book will particularly appeal to scholars looking to keep abreast of current issues, students of the field endeavouring to understand their chosen subject, and practitioners exploring new strategies in understanding the clients they serve. The array of topics and perspectives examined here demonstrates a renaissance of Social Factors"--Provided by publisher

As the United States adjusts to the necessity of ecological sustainability, buildings play an important role because of their use of resources—and because they are potent nonverbal symbols of new societal values. The David Brower Center in Berkeley, California, strives to be a model for sustainability. Environmental impact is often the focus of those concerned with sustainability, but here, additionally, the designers aim to raise public awareness of sustainability through the building. For this reason, this building became the site for a postoccupancy evaluation class exercise; architecture students analyzed the building and what it communicates about sustainability from the perspective of its users. Findings indicate that many people did not adequately read the building's green design characteristics: Social and symbolic communication could be improved by increasing signage and evolving clearer symbolism for "green."