A model for sociocultural interactions in museums

Abstract

This paper presents a new model for the creation of strong sociocultural interactions between people and places within museum space. In this model, sociocultural interactions are the products of three basic factors: motivation, context, and actuation, each of which has subcomponents. The model asserts that for a person to perform a target interaction, he or she must become sufficiently motivated and be situated in the right context as effective actuation begins the interaction. The simultaneous presence of two of these factors, at the very least, could make the interaction occur in an effective way. This model is not only useful in planning and designing new museums, it also applies to other urban buildings and places as well.

Keywords:

• sociocultural interactions
• museum
• motivation
• context
• actuation

Acknowledgements

I am grateful to Dr. Khosrow Afzalian for interesting discussions and his earnest support. Special thanks go to reviewers, as well as to those who participated in this research and shared their experiences and feedback on design issues.

Notes on contributor

Farzan Baradaran Rahimi received his master's degree of Architecture from Islamic Azad University, Iran, in 2011, with a dissertation entitled The Museum of Contemporary Art of Mashhad with regard to the social interactions. He is currently principal member of AQR think-tank. He also works independently as an architect and researcher on strategies to reinforce sociocultural interactions within architectural and urban spaces.

Notes

1. Virtual reality systems totally surround the user, supposedly providing an unmediated experience. These systems require high-end computing power to provide a high realism environment.

2. The concept of the matryoshka: hollow wooden dolls that can be pulled apart to display another figure of the same type inside and then another inside this one and so on.

3. Photographic method that produces three-dimensional images.