INTRODUCTION 1 THE MUSEUM PROBLEMROBINSON 1928 GE left MELTON 1931 Sages eases stro tine spent in the picture collect Sons, the room# entered, the nun= ber of pictures studied by the Visitor in each room, and the Line spent before each of these pictures, Alshosgh the number of Visitors observed was small, cer Eeristic of mos 1. During the course of a visit and after a brief “warming Gp" periog the person ob= fed displayed p before a proyressive By smaller percentage of the pictures encountered and 20 ake progressively shorter Etops: 2. The more pictures simultane ously displayed, the ssaller the average tine spent in Looking at each picture, 3. In large museums! the likeli hood that a visitor will ob- serve any given picture is less than in smaller mseuss Gennete, 1941). elton, working in art museuns, Conk irhed Robanson's findings. He ‘observed the schavier of Puseum visitors onder normal and Gonteolled conditions ane found a hunber of fsctors which increase Or Gininish the effectiveness of museum dispiey. © exnipit ro scally arranged ‘there is 8 Strong tendency for the Visiter to Follow the Tight hand wail, looking at dis~ plays to thesr right. 2, Exits froma muscu Foon Attract the visitor and Compete with nearby displays Go that stops are less Eres thon before pl: doors leading from the room. Ef the visitor encountars af Gust before the esreuit of the room 1s completed, they are nore likely te depart than'to cont inve in the room 3, Visitors distribuee these Sttention, osually pausing for brief periods to Look at individual abjects and. ehen shipping secerai intervening Research into visitor responses to museum materials, exhibits and environments cont inves to appear in'books, articles in the peri~and 1980, Becthel, lawerence Coleman, Alvin Goins, Ross Loomis, Robert Lakota, Lucille Nahenow, ‘Arthur Nichoff, mildred Chandler Yornioke In summarizing and revieving the Oxisiving state of knowledge, which haz resvived from ehe re~ search effort, the various stud~ divided into four categories. Visitor surveys 3 Behavioral studies ‘3 Experimental Research 3 Evaluation studies Sereven, 1979 ‘The abundance of data generated from these studies has helped set the direction for current museun Fesearch and, when properly p= plied, they have significant ta~ plications for museum design and have nad an. impsce on some muscum janing and desisn, Vis Search has also helped museuns © Increase or maintain drawing power newspapers, fair: festivals and expositions) ‘¢ Improve design and planning decisions: Z cultural cel ne public, ee ees Poe) Museum visitors (or nonvisiters) are sampled with respect to demograph- ecco ames Perea arn eect ear tere Poet RC Coed OR Rg Pere cen) em ame eer RUC Pe aes Sa) Studies of the effects of different eon an eS Pe er nT Renae een) ce ea peace ruta ee Ree or as pet operate raed COUR CC RUT RCO et Paper aera ae cae Pre rar aL pertarourerac ny eee etc articular exhibits, programs or methods.Outside their own experience, m Cena ey eee re as perth Pearse encore Patent i Pea er aU Reenter irons rire mes pong rearige Pero ae Perens prepay a enter ea erg ‘Museum News. November, 1972 oa eee pene near eis Se teen re Poor mare) _ SCR Lacs Foca repre ors Pee eee ras Pee stern " ee rr ery nee nee eae peer eeay Pa eer) aT re aa ro Peer Re fnd evaluate the Piers aoe as emer renee Pe aera tetera eae ious research search in museums is quick to ask ocs CO ey nec erceraecr History. Chicago, Winels 893) ENTRANCE HALL. Poor location for bookstore. Field Museum of Natural GALLERY- Poor location. Dallas 1936 CIRCULATION- Little orientation Seeletance. National Museum of tory and Technology. Wash.D.C. GALLERY- Lack of eiversity, Phita- lphia, Museum of Art. Philadelph Pennsylvannia, 1877 His 984 Ohio “i033 GALLERY- Poor doorway, locations, ‘The Toledo ‘Museum of Art: Toledo, LOUNGE Poor tocation. Metropol- ton Museum of Art. Now York. Nv. 870 10 Lack oF Desicn GuipeLines. Rithoush 9 vast anount of” infor~ mation on the behavior of the museum Visitor ss available (pre- Gominantly in periodicals) »_moch enbefsone and difficult ctical use by the design “eum professsons. According to Ludwig Glaeser, curator of the Nies van der Rohe Archive's, "the Jack of adequate documentation in fedented museum old ing boom i Statos ex 9 boslding type.* the last two decades the museum's special (Glaeser, 1972) the sneccesssbiliey hensive books design guidelines for museum arch Stecture looms even larger hen Carefully looking. into sone of fe design decisions being nade fn moseum public spaces. The forlowing List, based on visitor Sone of the most rescourr ng design decisions which could have negative inpact on the visitor's IMPROPER POSITIONING OF THE MUSEUM. BOOKSTORE, GIETSHOP AND INFORMATION BOOTH. INSUFFICIENT ORIENTATION ASSISTANCE @ TNecoRRECT fuser oF DooR- WAYS INVA EXHIBITION SPACE_AS WELL AS. THE WRONG NUMBER OF DOORS USED. 8 IMPROPERLY ‘LOCATING GALLERY SPACES, RESULTING IN MISSED OPPORTUNITIES © CACK"OF DIVERSITY AND con TRAST. THROUGHOUT THE MUSEUM, RESULTING IN VISITOR FATIGUE THE LACK OF LOUNGES OR REST AREAS, © POOR LOCATION FoR LOUNGES. LOCATIONS WHICH CAUSE THE SPACE TO GO UNUSED. Raseun projects, with improved design decisions, insight into Visitor behavior is essential. Will there bo future suscun projects?Importance of the Problem ‘The Charleston “useum, Charles~ ton, South Carolina, was the first american Museum, Founded in. 1773 and. predaeing Aner ican Independence: In 1870 the United States entered the miseum main Stream when the Anerican Museum Gf Nacurai Wistory in New York, the Metropolitan Museum of Art New York and the Museum of Fine Ares in Boston were estab= lished. Since then Americans have been collecting objects and Creating museums at an acceler~ Sting tate and museums have bo- cone a major thread in the cul tural fabric of this country Musoums in the United States are Growing rapidly, as is evident Ghen one looks gt the increase Un Ehe munber of focilseiea, attendance, and the variety of Goliect ions and ewnibitions being Gisplayed. Inproved museum design Sn Pesponse te the best research Inforaaeion, can enhance ehis trend. The following so: and review statistics which Suggests continuation to the ‘huseum boileing boom started two Secedes 330. Inonease iy Factuyrics. Surveys Ebaduetea by’ the’ Anericen Asso- Chation of Susoums(AAK) indicate: fone counts small person on staff and that parson is without professional train~ ing}, there are above six chou sand ‘museums in the United States today. There was a steady increase in he sunbers of fuseume built fron 1900 £0 1939. During the 1840's fowor were Constructed due prinarily £0 orld War It. Then the rate of Gonsteuetion increased again in the 1950's and 1980's. Approx [nately 60 percent of existing ‘puseuns have been established ince 1950 and, in the 1950's lone, there was 2 53 percent Gneresse in the number’ of mugeurs, from 2,238 to 3,425. Gnfact, since 1960 an avéraga of more than 100 new museums have Been establisned in ehe United States each year. and the growth founded in 1370 or after than were founded in all the time be | 1 cLed | American, Museum of | Metro | Natural Ristory. NY. | tan Museum of Art * 1979, Number of museums by state | Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Mass. SRC SEL nNumber of museums buit by yoar SSPE aerate eee a, = —~ two 1940 50,000,000 200,000,000 Visitors ) Visitors: 7“ Investment in museum buikinst ] 1980) {600,000,000 visitors fore 1920. Recently, now miseuns have appeared every 2.3 days, In order to appreciate the magni- tose of our national commitment to museums, Laurence Vail Coleman Sn his pioneering shree-volune Study, fhe Moseun in Anerica (1839), calculated that the total expenditures involved in ail Science, history ané art maseuns, as of 1930, was $16,000,000. In Contrast (and with due ailowance for beth dollar ation and the Univea ‘seat: allocated over $550,000,000 for Gn buildings for visual arts. than Sn tho previous 150 years. This massive investrent has produced 10.2 million square feet of hoseum space——sore than 13 tines the size of the Louvre in Parise INCREASE iw ATTENDANCE, tuseums wory an size, as measured by attendance, from those attract ing. fewer, chan. 3000, fntne mil Exeasea much faster than has the population of the United States. The Belmont Report conducted by the Aner ican Association of Huseums in 1968, stazed that the increase in muscun atcendance has been So rapid, and has reach ea such a level, chat miseuns sow have to turn down requests for 1t hag been estimated (in a Variety of publications, Meseums Urs:hey 1978) Alexanger, 19797 Raseum’ News, 1980) thet the hunber of people visiting moseuns Tncreased From 50 million 2 year in 1940. to between 200 end. 300 fillion in 1969 and £0 over 600 million in 1980. Despite high levels of attend= ance, most museuns expect and Want'co encourage further in Greases in the funber of vie~ Gf museums reported that aine Sut of ten of the nation's Buseum directors are interested in attracting more visitors £0 their auseuns. The AAN also feels that so far as can be fore- seen, all the factors responsible for fecent increases in mseun attendance mey be expected £0‘o The increase in the United States population. The poe of the U.S.A. from 1950 doubled tive than d sillion ©@ over 150) pail ‘the rate of ton shows no signs of declining. The majority Of major mscuns continue to lovate near central city gh concentrations of Pop tlations Increased be bility. The auto Te has greatly intl enced. the sncrease of museus Sttendance, since with in sing automobile ovner= ‘and the resultant. an= {in personal nobsliey, Increase In CoLLections, ano Hisitions, During formative Years, museums were classified into three types: art, pistory, ‘and science. Today there are 6000 or more known muscuns ‘gaging in an extraordinary Variety of activities. In all, Bé categories of museums exist today, 43 of which are varsations of art, history and setenco Specialized miscuna with theres Fonging fron agricultura ana and § any ee Panera er aoe) Pe a coe e ts Cerra me ere) SCL ae ere Ore ee a! Pee ares Pree emo Pare ear) oe eee ec Pea aera i) Cee aay) errr errears Er eee Cae compared to 4.000.000 in 1980. ere Pere acre yer eS er eee NLT Pe error) Pad See History and Technology, during its Peer on eters Se CmU CTR sorry crtsoues of mses coon AER EE SETS A. western B. mountain C. midwest 5. Southeast E northeast Fonew england @ Percentage of museums by region 13Categories of Museums va mses fant Come fen Resoctation Zaucenies Sat Funes 20 GALERIES fens ato Conve Rosine Cathar Gas agp STUER Means Civic Aa avo CocrueaeCEUTese fcconarive ers Roseuns Fave fir Fuses Tertice Meseons| Canes AD UN TOR Seu COLLEGE uD UUIVERSITY MUSES coma suns ENHTBET EAS GENERAL ISEDNS isTony missus aston Roeneres Histone ooses ano Historie Buna histone Sires Histonteaaxb PacsenvarionSee1eTe3 Historica Soetery Fustone Histone Meine Ttvas tuseons ano Historie Sates ucrtany stuns Paceenvarion Paaatere LIBRARIES HAVING COLLECTIONS CTHER TA BOOKS ‘MTIOMAL AD STATE aseNCES aru cenrens PARK MUSEUNS AO VISITOR CENTERS SCIENCE SENS Aexowrics no Seace Yuseuns Duswarecoey. Ermotscy ano Tava Muss fours, Manin MUSeons fesoneroes Drcangovocr Moseuts fevaries ao UneToaa.0ey Huse orautea ano dovatic Gutbene Enronocoeyfcszume ana InsecY Coutscrsons eecocy. Mnenauoor aap PALEOvT.03y Ti. Hemnanis Henrevo.cey scons Meio des See vaca fatumal Hievorr ayo Selene ses Lanevanioie, senenTontts > etaonone rescore Rertaes avo Boen Saverunies Tootacy Muses Tock Cubes Zone srecinizeD fanteacrune Mescuns farioues Putin frcutrecre sting fupro-Vista ano Fivs Musewe Cneus Fase Ecrenaiciy Suseins Fine-Frodring Rostins 5 feta Hoop aseons Ingosraiat stuns Loaeine ax Lome Moscuns Nivive Mose ectetous Musto Son estan Toy wee ete Puseine is faseus 14 ‘The most common type of muscum in the United states is the history museur. According to the Museums Urs.a. Report, (1974), there were ai cast. 1,821 established museums in’ this counery an 1971= 1972, of which 683 were history nosevns, [including historic houses, ‘milstary museums and pre- servation projects a5 well as General history museums), 340 art Ruseuns, (including maseims of China, glass and silver as well Se folx are and textile museums), 284 sesence museuna, (aneluding Aeronautics and space museums aquariune, arboretuns, aviar ios ase ornithology msesss, botan= {ca gardens, insect collections, herbariuns, herpetology museurs, planetarsume, wildisfe refuges Bnd zoos) , 186 art/nistory. Ruseine ane 326 combinations of Sone oF all of the above. Increased insight into the behav- jor of the museum visitor will hot oniy aceise with design dect~ sions for future suseun projects But also moseums needing rehabil~ Station or replacement. Future Neco FoR REHABILITATION OR REPLACEMENT, Studies have. shown that the majority of Aer ican Museums occupy facilities which peed either rehabilitation or Feplacenant, giving acchitects Gnd museum professionals portunity to improve on past Sesigns. zn a survey conducted for the National Endowment for the Arts {a 1974, most museum directors feat older museum facilities were dees thon adeguate and that the heed for rehabilitation or re- Placenent was so great that it Eouid not be met ina year or two. in response to the 1968 request Of then President Johnson as tO the condition of the Aver icen mun Scum facilities, the Aner ican, Re~ Soelation of Noseuns states," a Conservative conclusion is that) the condition of most moscun buildings and faciiitice is so Ungatisfactory that the institu tions cannot serve the public oF perform thesr cutural and educa fiona functions adequatels ‘The 1968 study by the Anerican Association of Miscuns (MAM) pointed out that, of the 689 hoseuns sharing quarters withother instituricns, (38 would next ten years, Of the 1,053 aseuns house! in buildings not would need new construction adequately house and exhibit their collections for the pablic. And, assuming the effective Life Of a public building to be about fifty years, another 124 musouns would feed Gither to remodel oF Feplace their beildinge within ‘The AH algo nas disclosed that, Of the museune housed in build~ Gags designed specifically for their use, 149 tere constructed before 1900, 75 were completed Guring the years 190! and 1920, 233 were constructed between Saar ang 1940, 174 were bust be- tween 1941 and 1960, and 60 have been built since 1961 Improving Future Museums: Fecent years (i.ecyeith the con= Einving growth in'suseum facili- ties, attendance and the variety of collections and exnibieions Being dteplayes),, there exists 2 museum professionals to capital- ze on past. reseai take current visitor-benavior studies to improve museum design Ft also offers the opportunicy co i CESNtor da ene design tean of fucure mosoum Bailaing projects, which can in= Grease designer's understanding Of the characteristics and. Bsy~ chological problens of museum This is essential sf existing Tuseums are to make the best use of their galleries and if future fuseuns are to have an architec= fue that is appropriate to the characteristics of the public it Serves today. It would, in fact, provide s richer variety of Boilaings thon now exists. be- cause there are within society So many distines groups and. types of Sndividuals, sone of whom are Sot at present catered to NEED FOR REHABILITATION-A CASE STUDY gat jem aime nrg mans garg IG Fig a cen Be IHS SASH LEED? BALSAM Seb SEoat oP ze 45 Reouiecbs'Tt site cosr" 1a enehse-or'¥- Jhb ej Sr fost of ni rue Beit ett Ta scons venrication syaven ts cagoere, IF 1s wwonstnLe Fi Tetdnd ato Maret yo eatedeess coglectiong an Exwre1 ts Bhatt rsten Ts etnaea oor anwot 3250000, Pobre RST Peeled mute coat sabor sabaresey a ANE Sate SEOs Mais rear genoa ate me Ts ey agte"atr SeEw eines ron veeaueer LI"Ts IESE rn Ses WP Sho of meoidate 85. rR BRAGA OE Se Sa ERTS Mecutats GROUP DEA Steering committee -- = roi woes —_— E ottcal interest oro —— Ss PROGRAM | DESIGN |CONSTRUCT| ‘museologist ‘atchitect--~ sociologist sychologist----~ Eivil engine lighting exp ‘acoustics = air-cond : other -. general contractor Sub- key (Mmm permanent team member 1516 ability to acconsodate its in= fended use and by knowing about the users, who have the most di~ rect and extensive relationship with feedisey use. Each busiding prototype carries with ita dif Ferent set of requirenents, thos hunan needs must be understood ond studied within the framework Of each design problen. Visstor-benavior studies con= Gucted in miseum environments Sapport the proposition that vis Stor needs within these institu Elons sre still being overlooked by both clients and designers. This omission can cause Loss of tine, wasted energy, decreased personal satssfacticn and the Tors of desired educational in pact, Visitor needs often are Egnored because they are not re~ presented in the team that. pro= Granses and designs the busiaing Grits ennibite, A building ae— Sign team should bo established during the tneeds analysis" or firet stages of planning for = new museum s0 various points Of view ean be considered from the beginning. Working together, the Various participants nelp guaran~ tee a elancea approsch. Without the presence of the m- Seum visitor in tne design team, the owner's and nuseun director's Concerns for operational effi~ Efoneys will fosus ateeneson on Eechnology, resources, systems and cost rather than peopler In his discussion of The Huseum a8 a Social inetrument, Theodore Li Low, forner researcher for the Anérican Association of Museums (ARM), states that "Mu- feume must realize that as pub- Lie inseitutions they nave 8 duty to nany more people than they are serving today end that every metenpt must be nade to Expand’ the Ecope of thelr activ Seles. (Colenan, 1939 Researchers, involved with vis Ttor-benavice studies have Sug gested a number of areas for farther work. These can be stat~ ed as questions for suscum d= rectors, curators, designers and Srchitects to ansuer, and Ene luge: ‘@ Which galleries and exhibits do visitors miss most often fand why? (Bechtel, 1977)‘¢ Mow do windows and colors of waltz and floors affect. the Use ef space in a gallery? Why do sone gallery spaces attract more visstore han Sthers? sitor activity in gallery Spaces while cool colors de- press it? fe finat dose the auseum visitor Eonsider eo be a comeoreaple Sceial distance? (Sorhegyi, $963) fe that! is the public's image of today's muselns? (Cancrons 1967) e thet are the motivations underlying muscun visiting? fe What paths do visitors usual- ly take in the naseam and why? (Cohen, 1974) # there shosid directional, Orientation, and general’ in- Formation signs and maps be placed for optinal effective~ bess? ¢ How do fatigued visitors structure their visit aif~ ferently fron the energetic ¢ Do visitors avoid some gal- Tery spaces because of di~ Fectional choices (ive. left versus Fight hand turn)? Museums in the United states are Likely to grow, which will place Snereased demands on staff and fecilities. To continue to mest the needs of puscun visitors, it is important that architects and maseun professionals evaluate Visitorsbehavicr patterns that ire influential io the shaping of mosoun environrets and transiace These into design implications. 7