Museum Research

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 7
COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN

DESIGN
PBSARC 036
RESEARCH
(MUSEUM)
Submitted by:
Ramos, Kevin Jake V.
BS ARC 4
Submitted to:
Ar. Antonette C. Cruz
Instructor
INTRODUCTION
The Museum is a non-profit organization devoted to conserving and

understanding fundamental tangible evidence of humanity and the environment.
The museum differs greatly from the library in its preservation of primary
evidence because the artifacts held in a museum are mostly unique and serve as
the raw material for study and research. In many situations, they are removed
from their original context in terms of time, location, and circumstance, and they
speak directly to the spectator in ways that other media cannot. Museums have
been established for a variety of reasons, including serving as recreational
facilities, scholarly venues, or educational resources; contributing to the quality of
life of the communities in which they are located; attracting tourism to a region;
promoting civic pride or nationalistic endeavor; and even transmitting overtly
ideological concepts. Given its many objectives, museums exhibit amazing
variation in appearance, content, and even function. Despite their differences,
they all have one goal: the preservation and interpretation of some tangible part
of society's cultural awareness. Art museums, natural history museums, scientific
museums, military museums, and children's museums are just a few examples.
There are about 55,000 museums in 202 countries, according to the International
Council of Museums (ICOM).
BACKGROUND
The word museum has classical origins. In its Greek form, mouseion, it
meant “seat of the Muses” and designated a philosophical institution or a place of
contemplation. Use of the Latin derivation, museum, appears to have been
restricted in Roman times mainly to places of philosophical discussion. Thus, the
great Museum at Alexandria, founded by Ptolemy I Soter early in the 3rd century
BCE, with its college of scholars and its famous library, was more a prototype
university than an institution to preserve and interpret material aspects of one’s
heritage. The word museum was revived in 15th-century Europe to describe the
collection of Lorenzo de’ Medici in Florence, but the term conveyed the concept
of comprehensiveness rather than denoting a building. By the 17th century,
museum was being used in Europe to describe collections of curiosities. Ole
Worm’s collection in Copenhagen was so called, and in England visitors to John
Tradescant’s collection in Lambeth (now a London borough) called the array
there a museum; the catalog of this collection, published in 1656, was titled
Musaeum Tradescantianum. In 1675 the collection, having become the property
of Elias Ashmole, was transferred to the University of Oxford. A building was
constructed to receive it, and this, soon after being opened to the public in 1683,
became known as the Ashmolean Museum. Although there is some ambivalence
in the use of museum in the legislation, drafted in 1753, founding the British
Museum, nevertheless the idea of an institution called a museum and
established to preserve and display a collection to the public was well
established in the 18th century. Indeed, Denis Diderot outlined a detailed scheme
for a national museum for France in the ninth volume of his Encyclopédie,
published in 1765.
Use of the word museum during the 19th and most of the 20th century denoted a
building housing cultural material to which the public had access. Later, as
museums continued to respond to the societies that created them, the emphasis
on the building itself became less dominant. Open-air museums, comprising a
series of buildings preserved as objects, and ecomuseums, involving the
interpretation of all aspects of an outdoor environment, provide examples of this.
In addition, so-called virtual museums exist in electronic form on the Internet.
Although virtual museums provide interesting opportunities for and bring certain
benefits to existing museums, they remain dependent upon the collection,
preservation, and interpretation of material things by the real museum.
SPACE REQUIREMENTS
Museums can vary considerably in size, type and purpose, therefore it is

important to be able to narrow down the particular features and context for the
project as concepts are developed. Some museums employ large amounts of
staff, qualified experts who curate, manage and conserve the collections. Other
museums however, may require very few staff to oversee the exhibits.
While there is no standard formula for space planning and areas for a
museum, due to their variations, much of the requirements will come from the
clients brief, type of collection, purpose and so on. It is important to understand
the museum’s mission, and create an interesting layout for the collections. Key to
this is the circulation through the spaces and how the visitors interact with the
exhibits.
These museum spaces can include (but are not limited to):
Exhibits:
－ Exhibit Gallery
－ Main Exhibit Gallery
－ Permanent Display Area
－ Multipurpose Area
－ Exhibit Floor
－ Collection Study
－ Glass display Areas
－ Interactive Display Areas
－
Entry, Lobby, Admission, Store
－ Entry Vestibule
－ Lobby/ Orientation Admissions/Tickets
－ Museum Store
－ Back Storage for Museum Store
－ Performance Art Lobby
Storage and Conservation

－ Preparation Area
－ Storage (Artifacts) Storage (Paintings)
－ Storage Area (Furniture)
－ Warehouse Area
Administration
－ Reception/Waiting
－ Executive Director & Toilet
－ Associate Director Office
－ Office Manager Bookeeper
－ Store Manager
－ Future Staff Copy/Work Room/ Mail
－ Small Meeting/Planning Area
－ Filing and Storage
－ Conference Rooms
－ Staff Area
－ Technical Room
－ Exhibit Shop & Warehouse
－ Facilities Manager Near Exhibit Floor Supply Storage
－ Flammable Storage
－ Design Area
－ Exhibit Shop
－ Teaching Gallery Workshop Area
－ Museum Research Library
Security
－ Security Staff Area
－ Control Rooms
－ Loading Dock
－ Storage Space
Temperature/Comfort
－ Temp. Control Area
－ HVAC Room
－ Toilets
Conservation
－ Conservation
－ Conservation Lab Paper
－ Conservation Lab Canvas
－ Conservation Lab Photography
Landscape/ Other
－ Sculpture Garden Water Feature
－ Viewing Tower
Auditorium
－ Lecture Hall
－ Back of the House Facilities
SAMPLE DESIGNS AND FLOOR PLANS
Sample Designs
The Museu de Arte de São Paulo
Founded in 1947 by Brazilian businessman Assis Chateaubriand, the Museu

de Arte de São Paulo (MASP) was the first modern museum in all of Brazil.
Originally located on Rua 7 de Abril, the museum's current glass structure on
Avenida Paulista was designed by Lina Bo Bardi in 1968. The award-winning
building's airy appearance is mirrored throughout the exhibition halls as works on
crystal easels feel as though they are floating.
Its holdings consist of nearly 11,000 artworks and objects collected from all
across the world, including the most important collection of European art in the
southern hemisphere.
War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City

Hidden amidst the bustle of Ho Chi Minh City sits a shocking scene of fighter
jets and tanks lined up seemingly ready for action. While it may appear to be an
army base, it's actually the War Remnants Museum which truthfully documents
the brutal effects and tragedies of the Vietnam War through photography and
relics. A heavier museum-going experience, the war museum offers insight into a
defining chapter of the country's history, and how it has affected the nation's
identity today.
Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipán in Chiclayo, Peru
In 1987, Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva was called upon by police to

investigate the Moche archaeological site at Sipán, where grave robbers had
been looting artifacts. When he began excavating the site, Alva soon found he
was not unearthing a few pieces of jewelry and gold, but rather, the tombs of the
Lord of Sipán and 14 other members of the Moche civilization.
The Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipán was built to honor and display
what has been considered one of the most important archaeological discoveries
in South America. Guests can ogle lavish jewels, regal vessels, and other
stunning artifacts of Peru’s ancient community.
Bangkok National Museum
The first national museum in Thailand, this Bangkok cultural splendor houses

the country’s most extensive collection of Thai artifacts and artwork. The
museum’s structures can be traced back to 1782, when they served as the
palace of Rama I's viceroy, Prince Wang Na.
Nearly 100 years later, the grounds were transformed into a museum with
three differently themed galleries: a Thai History Gallery, an Archaeological and
Art History collection, and a Decorative Arts and Ethnological Collection. In
addition to the main collections, guests can discover one of the most revered
images of Buddha, Phra Phuttha Sihing, in the Bhuddhaisawan Chapel.
Sample Floor Plans

REFERENCES
https://www.britannica.com/topic/museum-cultural-institution
https://www.scribd.com/document/492851574/Space-Requirements
https://www.veranda.com/travel/g1436/best-museums-in-the-world/
http://www.messervy.net/portfolio/national-museum-bangkok-part-ii/
https://nmgl.org/museum-floor-plan/

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ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 7

COMMUNITY ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN

The Museum is a non-profit organization devoted to conserving and

Museums can vary considerably in size, type and purpose, therefore it is

Storage and Conservation

The Museu de Arte de São Paulo

Founded in 1947 by Brazilian businessman Assis Chateaubriand, the Museu

War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Minh City

Museum of the Royal Tombs of Sipán in Chiclayo, Peru

In 1987, Peruvian archaeologist Walter Alva was called upon by police to

The first national museum in Thailand, this Bangkok cultural splendor houses

Sample Floor Plans

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