Innovation Showcases
Asynchronous Session
Museum Architecture and Community Engagement: Redesigning Place in Post-Industrial US Cities View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Miriam Paeslack
This paper analyzes and compares recent renovations and expansions of two US art museum architectures in terms of their impact on institutional community engagement. One is the Albright Knox Gundlach Art Museum, one of the oldest Art Museums in the US, located in the Rust Belt city of Buffalo, NY; the other one The Oakland Museum of California, a museum of the civil rights era, in the former shipping powerhouse on the San Francisco Bay. The study demonstrates the central role of recent architectural planning for accomplishing museum goals of deeper, more meaningful interactions with established and new audiences. As museums and entire urban cultural economies are re-emerging from the paralysis of the pandemic, museums reconsider their capacities to address social inequalities through participatory measures. However, critical museum theory meets such hope with skepticism by asking to what extent participatory strategies are suited for this task, particularly in a neoliberal setting. This is where museum architecture assumes a new relevance beyond its post-Bilbao appeal and disproven claim for almost automatic positive effects on urban communities. This project is formed at the intersection architectural history, critical museum research, and urban justice scholarship. It is based on in-depth interviews with museum staff and a literature review. We conclude that community engagement cannot be an afterthought to construction. Efforts to connect through architecture need to be coordinated with a museum’s engagement strategies from the earliest planning stages onward and lead to a sustained feedback loop after building completion.
How Do Buildings Feel?: An Investigation into Resonance View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Felix Gottdiener
Much has been studied on the way humans perceive architecture. However, we have little experimental data on the way we perceive the constructed environment, through senses other than our vision. Architectural resonance is a reality, as buildings are constantly vibrating around us. How does the resonant human-building dynamic affect us? Due to ethical concerns, it is difficult to study the effect on humans. However, it is feasible to experiment on buildings themselves. In our study, we build three small rooms, one square, one hexagonal, and one circular. The vibration of the rooms is studied, as different amounts and groups of humans pass through them. These readings are used to make visual charts and heat maps, leading us towards a glimpse of the way buildings feel about their inhabitants.
Materializing the Unseen: Eye Tracking, Digital Twin, and Virtual Reality in Constructing an Environment for Place Branding and Interior Wayfinding View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Jain Kwon
This study illustrates how a university building interior renovation project integrated translational research and cutting-edge technologies to enhance place branding and wayfinding design. The research-based codesign process implemented eye tracking, digital twin, and virtual reality. This project used our Participatory Neurodesign framework that bridges empirical research and design practice. The framework consists of six phases: 1) participatory visioning and programming, 2) pre-design research, 3) codesign, prototyping, and stakeholder feedback, 4) post-design assessment, 5) fabrication and construction, and 6) post-project research and post-occupancy assessment. The translational eye-tracking research examined individuals’ gaze behaviors in an unfamiliar interior environment, allowing us to identify effective locations and types of visual information for place branding and wayfinding design. We created a digital twin of the building for the codesign process. The design team was requested to convey the college’s identity, missions, and academic divisions in the design, using its existing branding elements, including symbols, text fonts, and colors. The project stakeholders were able to experience the new design in video walkthroughs and virtual reality simulations. We also utilized the fully designed digital twin to conduct post-design eye tracking to assess the effectiveness of the new design. Based on the findings, we refined the design further and performed a final assessment using virtual reality, which was followed by the actual renovation of the building's interior. This innovative process transcends traditional design practice by weaving translational research, design practice, and technological explorations into creating an interior environment that effectively promotes place branding and enhances the end-user experience.
