Rethinking Art Museum Spaces and Investigating How Auxiliary Paths Work Differently

Jae Hong Lee,Yong Seung Kim

doi:10.3390/buildings12020248

Abstract

It has been recognized that one of the key issues in designing museums is the interaction between the layout of space and the layout of objects, and spatial configurations are strongly related to didactic narratives, social implications, and curatorial intentions. However, it has not yet been examined thoroughly how museums work from a spatial perspective. Apart from the layout of objects, spatial configurations play an important role in creating various walking sequences, ranging from main routes to auxiliary paths. Art museums in particular can be characterized by such deviations generated by the auxiliary path, but they are hardly understood from this aspect. Therefore, this study aims to explore the auxiliary paths and examine how they work through in-depth theoretical analysis based on space syntax. By analyzing four art museums in terms of isovist attributes, syntactic measures, spatial sequences, and possible trails, it has been concluded that in the cases of the Uffizi Gallery and the Moderna Museet, spatial sequences work conservatively, so that auxiliary paths are channeled back to the gathering space. This is because the walking experience is strongly correlated with visual syntactic features such as connectivity, integration, and intelligibility. Conversely, walking sequences in the case of the Centre Pompidou and the Alte Pinakothek work generatively, and auxiliary paths are rarely related to the gathering space because the walking experience is strongly concerned with visual geometric properties such as isovist area/perimeter and occlusivity.

Highlights

According to Macdonald, “collecting is fundamental to the idea of the museum,”and “the idea of the museum has become fundamental to collecting practices” (p. 81, [1])
Thinking about the morphological features in terms of the walking experience, it has been suggested that a museum with traditional enfilades, such as Durand’s Museum, offers several equal alternatives for continuing the visitor’s route and, this spatial layout is often applied to museums that comprise different types of items or functions and deliver diverse themes
We assumed that the spatial layout of the Alte Pinakothek might have been influenced by that of the Uffizi Gallery, as it has the same spatial structure, meaning that the loggia controls the overall accessibility to large gallery halls, but the halls, provide additional spatial sequences, leading to the cabinets located in the deepest part

Summary

Introduction

“the idea of the museum has become fundamental to collecting practices” (p. 81, [1]). Thinking about the morphological features in terms of the walking experience, it has been suggested that a museum with traditional enfilades, such as Durand’s Museum, offers several equal alternatives for continuing the visitor’s route and, this spatial layout is often applied to museums that comprise different types of items or functions and deliver diverse themes. Brawne has made an interesting point regarding the lineally structured museum: it provides auxiliary paths derived from the single main route [4] This means that the overall movement pattern is guided and even controlled by that single sequence at a global level, we can experience meaningful deviations in terms of walking sequences at a local level. This study focuses on exploring and examining the auxiliary paths in lineally structured museums through in-depth theoretical analysis by using the space syntax technique; especially prominent art museums were analyzed to answer these questions

Museum Studies

Syntactic Analyses and Discussions

Visibility Graph Analysis in Terms of Syntactic Measures

Examining Possible Paths

Findings

Discussion