Proximate interiors: When exhibition design activates museum architecture

Abstract

In recent decades, the ocularcentrism of museums has been challenged by the design of immersive, multisensory exhibition environments. In many museums, these environments are placed within ‘white cubes’ and ‘black boxes’ that provide a (supposedly) neutral space for exhibition making, and in the case of historic museum buildings, materially rich but non-neutral interiors are sometimes covered by visual backdrops and projections. This article will explore how exhibition design can, instead, work actively with the architectural museum interiors. Based on analysis of two exhibitions at Copenhagen museums, it will explore the potential of exhibition design that taps into the material particularities of museum interiors, thereby strengthening the museum visitors’ sense of being present within the museum space. The article will draw on the concept of atmosphere (Gernot Böhme), while also making critical inquiry into the concept’s ability to capture the material proximity effects of exhibition design that activates architectural museum interiors.

Keywords:

• museum space
• exhibition design
• museum architecture
• atmosphere
• Böhme

Acknowledgements

I gratefully thank Stine Friese, Nanna Arnfred, Adam Bencard, and Louise Whiteley for inspiring conversations about the integration of exhibition design with architectural interiors in the Mind the Gut exhibition. I also wish to thank curator at Medical Museion Niels Vilstrup for sharing his profound knowledge about Medical Museion’s architecture.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ane Pilegaard

Ane Pilegaard is Assistant Professor at the Royal Danish Academy, Institute of Architecture and Design, in Copenhagen. She teaches at the Spatial Design MA program and conducts research on museum architecture and exhibition design. Ane completed her PhD project on museum exhibition design at Medical Museion, University of Copenhagen. Previously, she worked in the field of art exhibition.