Toledo Glass Museum, Ohio
I visited the Toledo Glass Museum in Ohio a couple times during architecture school, and particularly intrigue by the building layout. As the name suggested, this museum is solely for displaying glass exhibition around the world with 5000 works from ancient to contemporary times. Yet, the building itself is also consider an art-piece itself for its fluidity and floor-to-ceiling glass wall. The museum elaborates on the concepts of “inside vs outside” and “in-between space.” Each exhibition is enclosed within the curved glass that are 2.5ft offset from the exterior glass, providing a thermal buffer that reduce energy consumption in addition to curtains. The material use of glass as the primary structure is very inspiring and non-traditional. The museum also includes a demonstration area where visitors can watch a live process of glass making by local artists. It is located toward the end of the museum, so it was quite interesting to watch the live demo after viewing the various glass exhibition and how artist uses different technique.
Tai Kwun, Hong Kong
Tai Kwun was built between 1841 and 1925, and they are 16 historic buildings. It used to be a police compound that consist of a police station, magistracies and prisons. It was decommissioned in 2006 and later revitalized as a museum in 2018.
Walking through the museum allows visitors to experience Hong Kong history, the evolution of society, and the integration of modernism within a historic site. There are various exhibitions that are interactive and allows visitor to take instagram worthy pictures. It is interesting to see a mix of art type (painting, sculpture, furnitures..etc) display in the same space.
Summary of what makes a great exhibition space:
- The user experience with the flow of space
- The museum/ exhibition itself is interesting and inspiring
- Interactive elements
- Various type of exhibits