Abstract:
Human nature draws us towards the areas of highest contrast. We see this realized in the way that compositions are formed and understood, our eye is immediately drawn to the highest contrast, the most obvious and clearly expressed or seen. But in life these areas of high contrast can act more as distraction than enriching stimuli, more substance can be taken in through subtle communication and differences. It is in the subtlety of art , the attributes not immediately recognized that we see feel the greatest depth.
Spectacle architecture suffers from the same desire to be seen and to communicate with absolute clarity. The spectacle trend comes with many expenses, many of these buildings suffer from: reduced functionality, excuses of expression, becoming part of a persons identity or lending to an architects star status, a fading sense of novelty, making the building the destination rather than the contents and their value, commodifying or abusing the capitalist nature of the industry, as well as showing a general lack of responsibility towards the community that houses the building.
These detrimental issues seem to be most harmful to the museum buildings that are being constructed. A museum is an altruistic symbol of the culture and knowledge of a community. Museums started with galleries of private owners who opened spaces in their home to show the art, now the sharing of art has become even more public and most of the work viewed in museums is privately owned. To see these altruistic symbols suffer from capitalism and the need for fame and notoriety is disheartening.
This thesis argues that the trend of spectacle architecture in museum design is affecting our impression of the museum and its influence on the community as well as the importance of the contents of these buildings. The spectacle character is not and aid to the display and purpose of a museum and in many cases is a hindrance to the museum
Through many explorations and subsequent discoveries, the characteristics of this argument have been tested. The initial search for an empirical answer to this question proved to be an irrational pursuit and so an adaptable solution was required. Referencing other architectural programs and using those principals to the advantage of displaying art.
This thesis seeks architecture that adapts to the art it displays rather than forcing art to adapt to the architecture that holds it