Is Architecture the Museum - Essay Example

? Is Architecture the Museum? Is Architecture the Museum? ? Museums are social s that have long lasted to ensure moral and practical grounds of the world in which they operate. Museums have been driven away from their inner agendas and the economic imperatives of the marketplace and are immaterial to all influences whether internal or external. They get better and better over the time, and as the time passes they have more contributions made in them to enhance their value and importance. Museums hold immense importance in every society as they create a sense of oneness and significance amongst the people of the same culture, or religion. Museums contribute their role in spreading and developing the academics of the eras that have passed away, but are still valued1. The question “is architecture the museum?” may be discussed in many aspects and different perspectives may be given to this question. Architecture is the science of a building whether exiting in the past, present or future. Every building has an architecture on the basis of which it is organized and recognized. Where this question discusses many of the factors which include the practices of the museums, the purposes, the importance, the role and the impact, it also covers the challenges that the museums have to face in the present and in the future expected by the theorists. Architecture and museums can be closely related in two major aspects2. The architecture of today is the museum of tomorrow. Many buildings that have existed in the present day will one day become a museum which means a social institution where citizens will be allowed to come and examine the architecture to improve their knowledge, exposure and experience. Many buildings which held cultural and scientific importance in the past are now large museums that contribute largely to the society. Many examples and aspects of this issue will be addressed in the literature. The second aspect is the architecture of the museum itself which is also an important issue to address as it holds much importance. These issues will be addressed by explaining the elements of the museums such as immaterial, experiential, cultural and social institutions, valuable and historical architectural frameworks that preserve our past, present and future. The definition of a museum says that it is a permanent and non-profit institution that is educational in purpose and is dealt with professional staff. It owns and utilizes several tangible objects and intangible heritage of humanity and exhibits them to the public for the purpose of study, education and enjoyment. It is important to understand the relation between museums and the public to further assess its practices and purposes in architectural and other historical values. Museum architectures are social institutions that are open to the public and are created for the public interest. The basic purpose of the museum is to serve to the public through its researches, objects, conserves and architectural heritage3. The relationship between the museum architecture and the public is a revolutionary process. Years ago the position of the museum was superior to the public as it was created to increase the understanding of the public and to elevate its spirits to the visitors. The purpose was to refine and boost up the common taste. Museums were said to be created for those who didn’t know by those who knew to pass on the message and to ensure that they would come to learn. As the time passed, the museums and their architecture started to serve as social institutions which enhanced the relationship of the museums and public. Today, the role of the museums architecture has been transformed and the new masters are the public. As the society is engaged in the process of adapting and reusing, the inheritance by museums is the structure that was once grand and imposing but it no longer functions in any of the ways that the builders intended it to. An example of this type of conversion is the Bankside Power Station which was converted into the Tate Modern in 2000. Few historical buildings are prepared to be torn down and walked away to leave them to collapse by some people, but it is believed that even though it is not functioning, yet it still provides value if it is properly adapted, understood and preserved. The process of adapting the museum architecture so that it serves the public needs better is still underway4. Museums have gained a new identity in the last decade as institutions of informal education rather just institutions for the display of art and architecture. This new identity has gained the museums a social advocacy where it contributes to the social well being of the people. Whether they display art or architecture, they are a part of the government work to help people in understanding their community and their value in the world of history. Museums have achieved much in identifying the space that they share in the society. Museums are such places that give uplift to all its objects and vice versa, the objects given a rise to the value of the museum5. Museums hold and care for collections. They develop ones imagination and inspire them about their own past. They are diversified and creative which increase their value in the public realm. The architecture of the museums, their building, their interior, their decoration, their display and their structure is what adds to the significance in any society. In UK, the museums are a trademark for various cultural assets as they are preserved in this place. The Government of UK believes that these museums are a positive boost to the country’s national economy and they serve as industries that provide employment, and economics. The Government believes that their interference should be limited in the museums as they are largely historical and their funding could be from private or commercial sources. Museums are an important part of infrastructure and they are built by special architects to ensure their building value6. Museum architecture is an issue which has received immense important in the recent years when museums gained a new identity to their structure. The issue is challenging because of the purposes of the building in which the museums are built. In order to preserve the collections of the museums, it is important to limit the purpose of the building and make sure it is accessible to the public to improve their understanding. The most important reason why the architecture of the museum is important is to control the climate for the objects placed in the museum building. Buildings of the museums should be purpose built for example the Museum of the History of Science in England7. It is thus addressed that the architecture plays an important role in the purpose of the museum and its collections so the architecture is the museum. Many museums previously were created in buildings that were combined with war memorials and served multiple purposes. But these museums may not set an impact on the viewer as they will be fascinated by the architecture first and that will sweep the center of attention8. Usually museum architecture is according to its collection. Some museums have art collections and so their buildings are designed to serve the purpose, for example the Weisman Art Museum in USA and the MARTA Museum in Germany. These are some examples of successful architectural projects9. There is no human growth without experience. And experience is not the formal or planned learning that we expose to in our academic or educational institutions. In fact, experience comes with our routine and the natural things that we are attentive towards. According to philosophy, even the breath we inhale and exhale gives us some sort of experience each time we are exposed to breathing. All the normal, abnormal and unusual events around us are part of our experience. When we talk about museums, they are regarded as institutions, places and resources that have contributed towards the experiential nature of the human mind. With more experience, the human mind can flourish and advance in many of the pathways of life, and thus museums provide such a platform so that the human mind is exposed to not only the things present around it but also the things that were present before it10. It is important for the citizens of a country to know everything about its historic importance and so museums are formed to allow them to enjoy and inspire from the signs of the past events and objects that display those events. Our history is very important for us and it is an opportunity to know about our own forefathers and cultural traditions, thus, history is valued immensely in academic institutions and also social institutions11. Where history is the subject taught at all levels to the students, to give them a theoretical aspect of the past, museums are the practical demonstrations of the same history. Theory is given to enhance knowledge, while museums are used to enhance the experience of the mind. Experience helps in understanding and growing and so museums serve as educational and social institutions both. Experience can neither be collected nor stored like the preserves of a museum; it can only be felt and earned12. Museums are immaterial. Most of the famous museums today are very old, some even built a hundred years ago or more. Museums give an attraction to the people of a society who want to reinvent the time of their forefathers and the time in which the cultural heritage was initiated. Every society has its own history and historic events so the type of museum they create would be different than the other. The cost for setting up a museum can be filled by any source including Government or commercial organizations. It tends to contribute greatly in the traditional importance of the society or country13. Museums are facing many challenges nowadays, and since many of them are old, the issues arising include the reinventing of the buildings. Many architects are hired for these purposes in order to store the collection of the museums in a building which is resistant to climate. Architects create such special buildings for museums so that the old and traditional objects do not get attacked by the climate changes or the climate attacks. As the concept of museums is modernizing day by day and they are gaining much more importance now, theorists feel the need for proper purpose built buildings for museums in every place. This will increase the value of the museum as it would greatly attract more and more people to convey the historic importance of the society14. Museum architecture also adds to the experiential aspect of the museums. Since experience is something a human mind absorbs by its surroundings, it is important that the museum has objects placed in the right place to ensure the impact of their significance on the human mind. Many museums have buildings with an ancient look which increases the value and adds to the architectural beauty of the museum. As they also serve as educational institutions and children usually are taken to museums as informatory trips, they need to be situated and built in a way which hits the minds of the children15. If architecture is the museum, the sources should make sure that it is cleaned, proper and in its original form to ensure its impact on the students. Buildings that are museums because of the importance they had once should not be modified nor changed. These architectural works have to be taken care of even more carefully so that they do not lose their originality. If they remain original, they can influence the experiential framework of the society. Such museums are difficult to restore and preserve thus, there are special architects who specialize in this field and they make sure that the structure of the building is not weak, without disrupting the interior. As the question is addressed according to different aspects of the link between museums and architecture, the institutions or the people who have been discussed in relation to this question is the Government and the architects. The literature mentions these two external sources that are strongly considered in this issue. The government’s role is to create a bridge between the museums and the public interest. It is their responsibility to assess the museums and preserve their infrastructure16. The government is involved as it contributed in the cost that is used up to maintain the museums. In present day, museums are also a tourist destination and more museums in a country mean more economic growth through the industry of tourism. Museums are public property and they should be prioritized by the government to continue and strengthen the cultural and historic heritage17. Architects are the other group of people to whom the museums and their importance is related. Architecture is one of the most important aspects of a museum and thus there are special architects that contribute to the museums and their buildings. This has been coming on from hundreds of years when the museums had started to exist. Even then, the architectural framework was as important as it is today. Due to this significance, it can be said that architecture is the museum. It contributes to the partial importance of the museum and its theme18. Without architecture, a museum may not seem to serve its purpose at all, especially after the uplift of the museums as social institutions. Thus, architects are important people for the museums to contribute to its value. It is the building and the outlook of the place which attracts the people to their culture and history. When we talk of architecture, a broad scope is being covered so we know that museums have also preserved architecture as well as special architectural grounds have been imposed for the museums to make them safe and long lasting and to prevent the historical objects in it. Museums help people to learn at every stage of their lives. They are the ways in which we connect to our past and implement it on our present. Museums have always satisfied all the needs of a human mind and create a permanent record of how people on the past used to live. It is important to relate to the past especially when the past world events have been so impactful on to the societies and in advancing the cultures19. Museums are the centre of knowledge and they help people in exploring the universal truths to which they have not been exposed. Museums are believed to be the need of the society rather only a luxury. Many historians believe that they serve as institutions that would help the society to enhance their understanding of the previous events and apply them to their cultural surroundings to live in a better, united community20. The question that has been addressed is “is architecture the museum” and the simple answer to it is “yes”. Museum and architecture are very strongly linked together and according to the literature above, it is clearly assessed that architecture and architects are specialized in contributing to the museums to increase their worth, value and influence over the present world. Thus, with the view of the different perspectives, architecture and museums are best friends. 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(USA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009) Darraby, Jessica, Art, artifact, architecture & museum law, (USA: Thomson/West, 2008) Durant, John, Museums and the Public Understanding of Science, (UK: NMSI Trading Ltd., 1992) Forgan, Sophie, Building the museum: Knowledge, Conflict and the Power of Place, (UK: The History of Science Society, 2005) Genoways, Hugh, Museum Philosophy for the Twenty-First Century, (USA: Rowman Altamira, 2006) Giebelhausen, Michaela, The Architecture of the Museum: Symbolic Structures, Urban Contexts, (UK: Manchester University Press, 2003) Hays, Michael, Architecture Theory since 1968, (USA: MIT Press, 2000) Hein, Hilde, Public Art: Thinking Museums Differently, (USA: Rowman Altamira, 2006) Janes, Robert, Museums and the end of materialism, (NY: Routledge, 2009) Kavanagh, Gaynor, Making Histories in Museums, (UK: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006) Kavanagh, Gaynor, Museum, Media, Message, (UK: Routledge, 1994) Knell, Simon, Museums and the Future of Collecting, (UK: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2004)  MacLeod, Suzanne and Watson, Sheila, Museum Revolutions: How Museums Change and Are Changed, (UK:  Taylor & Francis, 2007) Macleod, Suzanne, Reshaping Museum Space, (UK: Taylor & Francis, 2012) Moore, Kevin, Museums and Popular Culture, (UK: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000) Read More