DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS FOR MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

Abstract

All of us one time or another had our own little collections of items worth keeping, due to various reasons; for a grown up adult it may be photograph of his or her early school days, for a child it may be a favorite toy, for a mother it may be the first milk teeth her daughter has plucked. From time to time we enjoy taking a look at it making sure it is in a safe condition as it is our treasure in our own way. This basic tendency is exactly what happens in large built museums in somewhat large scale, in a different context and serving the community at large. These two aspects of museum; preserving and experiencing are almost timeless activities of mankind. They have found a built expression few centuries back as museums, among which fine arts museums are the most common ones. In this thesis it is attempted to probe into these two conflicting areas of fine arts museum aspects in terms of setting; design considerations and arriving at a balanced whole. Key literatures were surveyed in the area of the concern; among which are books by authoritative authors in the field. Representative case studies were analyzed according to a set of parameters to derive conclusions. Finally design considerations were derived for museum of fine arts based on the above study made.