33175 - Outfitting and Museography I

Learning outcomes

The student will have to become acquainted with the formation of the idea of interior space in architecture according to the well-known statement of Le Corbusier where "an outside is always an interior". The concept of interior space recognizes the specific foundations of the project as well as the theoretical formulas expressed over time, with particular reference to the great experience of the twentieth century. The student will have to find, by means of an analytical-design exercise, the compatibility of a site, clearly defined in its historical / architectural value, with the stable configuration of a space organized for exhibition purposes in relation to the object exposed and the perceptive dimension of the visitors.

Course contents

Museography and museology are disciplines that underline two different approaches to the same theme: the first is understood as describing the contents of the museum in terms of spaces and furnishings aimed at the extension of works, and it appears already at the beginning of the eighteenth century. The second is understood as a science of the organization of collections and museums and is of the most recent institution. The two disciplines are interlinked, though they play distinct roles and tasks, both aimed at the conservation, enhancement, and observance of certain objects / facts.

The course deals with museography seen as a specific project activity, able to define the interior or exterior spaces of a system of environments - places designed not only for exhibit purposes only.

In the recent debate, museography overcomes the limited task of bringing the obstinate apparatus as "bacheca" or "descriptive panel" to a correct solution, its design dimension acquires ever greater and uncertain contours overcoming the boundaries of the building to assume an urban and territorial dimension with the precise intent of creating museums in situ. It is intended to investigate the idea of a widespread museum where exposure and conservation are rooted in places, contexts, sites where works have been produced, in order to create museums in places, in a kind of process of appropriation cultural heritage through the museum institute.

Recent museography, moreover, assumes a further task of mediation between very distant disciplines such as archaeological and archaeological, and between planning and preservation culture. It is time for multidisciplinary and multiscale synthesis.

Readings/Bibliography

short list

Title: Museum of the '80s

Author: F. Minissi

Publisher: Editions Kappa, 1983

Notes: Although not actual, it is still an exhaustive and timely definition of the domains that make up the Museum system

Title : The museum, temple of memory

Author : R. Schaer

Publisher : Universal Electa, Gallimard, 1986

Notes: Exposure that clarifies the formation and development of the Museum institution

Title : The Modern Museum

Author : L. Low Peressut

Publisher: Lybra image, 2005

Notes: An extensive and up-to-date essay on the great 900s experience

Title: The Italian Museum

Author : A. Huber with contributions by M. Mulazzani

Publisher : Lybra image 1997

Notes: An essential tool of knowledge about the Italian experience of the "interior museum"

Teaching methods

There are a number of lessons that will illustrate some topics related to museography and address the necessary relationships between the theoretical aspects and the operational moments of the discipline.

With the support of some examples, we will investigate some fundamental aspects such as: the narrative path, the artwork space, the light as the revealer and the generator of architecture, the relationship between design and ancient text, techniques exhibition.

During the course a design exercise directly related to the topics discussed above will be conducted by individual students or by groups composed of a maximum of two people

Assessment methods

The exam is based on the drawing and discussion of the project developed by the students, taking into account the training course performed by each person within the course, giving particular value to the model and hand tool.

Each student will have to demonstrate through the analytical study of the sites and the design proposal the maturity of approach to the relationship between ancient and new, between project and pre-existence. It will have to demonstrate good exposure capacity by effectively clarifying project themes and developed in line with other disciplines involved such as structural calculus, material technologies, landscape architecture, and archeology.

Teaching tools

For lessons, you will use the standard tools for displaying and illustrating topics through PC image projection.

Also important are the texts and bibliographies that will be provided at the end of the lessons.

A study trip is foreseen to directly know some recently completed case studies.

More tutorials are guided by the teacher to the project area to check the effectiveness of project choices.

During the development of the design exercise, it is important to give direct attention through the use of the design and the model.

Office hours

See the website of Sandro Pittini