The Future of Museum and Gallery Design explores new research and practice in museum design. Placing a specific emphasis on social responsibility, in its broadest sense, the book emphasises the need for a greater understanding of the impact of museum design in the experiences of visitors, in the manifestation of the vision and values of museums and galleries, and in the shaping of civic spaces for culture in our shared social world.

The chapters included in the book propose a number of innovative approaches to museum design and museum-design research. Collectively, contributors plead for more open and creative ways of making museums, and ask that museums recognize design as a resource to be harnessed towards a form of museum-making that is culturally located and makes a significant contribution to our personal, social, environmental, and economic sustainability. Such an approach demands new ways of conceptualizing museum and gallery design, new ways of acknowledging the potential of design, and new, experimental, and research-led approaches to the shaping of cultural institutions internationally.

The Future of Museum and Gallery Design should be of great interest to academics and postgraduate students in the fields of museum studies, gallery studies, and heritage studies, as well as architecture and design, who are interested in understanding more about design as a resource in museums. It should also be of great interest to museum and design practitioners and museum leaders.

About the Author

Suzanne MacLeod is Professor of Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, UK.

Tricia Austin is a design researcher and Course Leader at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, UK.

Jonathan Hale is Professor in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Oscar Ho Hing-Kay is Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Reviews

"With essays that strike a careful balance between theory and praxis, the volume examines museum purpose, social responsibility, collaboration, and visitor studies through its presentation of thoughtful case studies, processual writing, and powerful critique within an international context. The book is an essential primer for emerging professionals, scholars, and practitioners interested in museums, design, community, meaning making, and the place of museums in the global cultural landscape."
Juilee Decker, Rochester Institute of Technology, USA

"Written by both practitioners and academic researchers from the US, Europe and East Asia, this book offers new insights into the contemporary international debate on multifaceted aspects of museum and gallery design. Its strength is hereby the conceptual division into three parts - Purpose, Process, Perception - which bridges a still existing division between the discussions on the physical design manifestation of museum spaces and our social experience of the exhibitions within them. This book will be invaluable for anybody interested in the future of museum design." Florian Kossak, University of Sheffield, UK

Book Information
ISBN 9781138307322
Author Suzanne MacLeod
Format Hardback
Page Count 362
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 1000g