ARCHITECTURAL AND MUSEOLOGICAL PLANNING AND DESIGN, AND PRESENTATION OF MONUMENTS

General Foundation

The course is also offered to exchange programme students.

faimiliarize with: - the need of programming, i.e. the analysis of the parameters of a given situation and the documentation of research data which should be examined and taken into cosideration before the design phase - the need to get to know equally the conceptual programming and design along with the conceptual and architectural-spatial design - the relation between the conceptual programming and design with the conceptual and architectural-spatial design - the relation of analysing the parts, (using also a swot analysis scheme), along with a holistic creative process of solving design problems - issues of New History and New Museology as well as Semiotics, along with notions of identity, multiculturalism and relations of material culture, presentation of monuments and heritage industry in contemporary societies

The course consists of two parts: a theoretical part and a synthetic/design part. The first aims to familiarize students with the theoretical tools of New Museology, which deals with the theory of material culture. It also includes lessons of New History, which provides the framework for the introspective examination of memory, oblivion and the construction of historical narratives, as well as for exploring the relationships between historical written or oral and material evidence. The theory includes also lessons of semiotics, which is of central importance for the synthetic design of an exhibition environment or for the design that deals with the interpretation of monuments. In other words this "scientific" - theoretical part deals with history, the understanding and interpretation of cultural products (exhibits, monuments or archaeological sites) within their wider cultural, political and social context. The second synthetic/design part has a dual direction: the first deals with the design of meanings (conceptual design) and the second with the design of space (physical-spatial planning). The latter points to both what a cultural product is, but also to the ways it can be communicated to or perceived by the public. Thus the lesson of Museology includes both lectures and studios, which support the education of an architect in architectural design through the example of the museum, the museum exhibition or the presentation of a cultural environment, such as a monument, a historical complex or an archaeological site . More precisely: The practice of an architect requires synthetic multiparametric skills, which are based on the profound knowledge of each specific topic one has to deal with. Therefore it is important that the students are aware of the theoretical framework within which, and through which, the design subject can be approached, like an exhibition or the interpretation of cultural objects, i.e. the social, institutional, cultural and functional context, within which the architectural composition will occur. This awareness and its continuous feedback is based on the cooperation between the "designers of meaning", i.e. the museologists and the "designers of space", i.e. the architects. The "design of meaning" or "conceptual design", is approached on the basis of a museological programming which documents and analyses a given collection in its parts and as a whole, a monument, a historic complex or an archaeological site before the design of the space. The above analysis, after examining the actual historical data, continues with the contemporary conditions and the aims and goals of exhibiting or reevaluating and is followed by the synthetic design of concepts (narratives), with a focus on contemporary theoretical approaches of culture and civilisation, material culture, post-processual archaeology, phenomenology of landscape and semiotics of space, the New History and New Museology approaches. It deals also, depending on the case, with the heritage industry, with urban regeneration issues, with memory, representation, identity and authenticity. These theoretical approaches are not listed in abstracto, but take into consideration - depending on each single case- both the place and the building, the collection that will be exhibited (if talking about objects in a museum), the character of the building that has to be restored, (if talking about listed buildings) or the sort of monuments that have to be presented (if talking about monuments), always in relation to the necessary functions that have to be planned, the public that will visit them or the supposed owner or stake holders. The study of the meaning of material culture and its spatial expression is therefore to be considered as the theoretical and scientific key viewpoint of the course, which envisages to stimulate each student to act not only as a designer but also as an interpreter of the meanings that lie behind the material objects. The proposed methodology helps students manipulate the ambiguous links between different levels of meaning arising both from the interpretation of a given collection of material culture objects and the potential interpretations of architectural design. This methodology can to some extent prevent design failures, as dealing with abstract meanings to manage in an "acrobatic" way concrete design proposals. The effort lies in helping the students consolidate the unbreakable circular relationship between the conceptual-museological design (design of meaning) and the architectural-museological one (spatial design), and to make clear that the design of meaning feeds and is fed by the architectural design in a continual and endless interaction. The course does not intend to produce "Museum-architects", but architects who have experienced a complete and "meaningful" design process.

New Museology, Material Culture Theory, Interpretation of Exhibits and Monuments, Design of Meanings in Museum Exhibitions (Conceptual Museological Planning) Spatial Design in Museum Exhibitions (Architectural-Spatial Museological Planning), Presentation of Monuments and Archaeological Sites

25-09-2013