The user perspective on twenty-first century art museums

The User Perspective on Twenty-First Century Art Museums explains contemporary museums from the whole gamut of user experiences, whether users are preserving art, creating an exhibit, visiting, or part of institutions that use the architecture for branding. Fourteen museums from the United States, Europe, China, and Australia represent new construction, repurposed buildings, and additions, offering examples for most museum design situations. Each is examined using interviews with key stakeholders, photographs, and analyses of press coverage to identify lessons from the main user groups. User groups vary from project to project depending on conditions and context, so each of the four parts of the book features a summary of the users and issues in that section for quick reference. The book concludes with a practical, straightforward lessons-learned summary and a critical assessment of twenty-first-century museum architecture, programming, and expectations to help you embark on a new building design. Architects, architecture students, museum professionals, and aficionados of museum design will all find helpful insights in these lessons and critiques.

Includes index.

Repurposing : surprise in repurposed places. Monash University Museum of Art -- Long Museum west bound -- Responding : highlighting differences. Museum of Contemporary Art Australia's mordant wing -- North Carolina Museum of Art's west building -- Building new, under 50,000 square feet : focus and flexibility. Luyeyuan Stone Sculpture Museum -- Sifang Art Museum -- Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland -- Tree Art Museum -- Building new, over 50,000 square feet : invitation and adventure. FRAC Bretagne -- New Museum of Contemporary Art -- Museum aan de Stroom -- National Museum of XXI Century Arts.