Museums and Design for Creative Lives questions what we sacrifice when we allow economic imperatives to shape public museums, whilst also considering the implications of these new museum realities. It also asks: how might we instead design for creative lives?

Drawing together 28 case studies of museum design spanning 70 years, the book explores the spatial and social forms that comprise these successful examples, as well as the design methodologies through which they were produced. Re-activating a well-trodden history of progressive museum design and raising awareness of the involvement of the built forms in how we feel, think and act, MacLeod provides strategies and methods to actively counter the economisation of museums and a call to museum makers to work beyond the economic and advance this deeply human history of museum making.

Museums and Design for Creative Lives will be of great interest to academics and students in museum studies, gallery studies, heritage studies, arts management, communication and architecture and design departments, as well as those interested in understanding more about design as a resource in museums. The book provides a valuable resource for museum leaders and practitioners.

About the Author

Suzanne MacLeod is Professor of Museum Studies at the School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, where she also undertakes collaborative and practice-centred research with a range of cultural institutions in the Research Centre for Museums and Galleries. She is author of Museum Architecture: A New Biography and co-editor of The Future of Museum and Gallery Design, Museum Making: Narratives, Architectures, Exhibitions, and Reshaping Museum Space: Architecture, Design, Exhibitions.

Reviews

"For anyone who believes that museums have the potential to act as powerful agents for social change, Museums and Design for Creative Lives is a must-read. MacLeod applies a theoretical framework of social space to current museum practice that not only identifies unchallenged assumptions about goals, standards, and processes in museums, but also articulates essential qualities and values inherent in what she calls "progressive museum design." The theory comes to life in the second part of the book, which explores the many visions, intentions, and design practices in 28 museum case studies of progressive museum design from around the world. Most importantly, MacLeod summarizes with six frames of mind or calls to action that provide us with concrete, provocative, and energizing ways forward." - Kathleen McLean, USA

Book Information
ISBN 9780367026189
Author Suzanne MacLeod
Format Paperback
Page Count 308
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 590g