Book Description

Building an art museum represents a pinnacle of achievement in the careers of many museum professionals, architects, planners, engineers, builders, and design consultants. This comprehensive, accessible book - the first to be written from the point of view of the owner as client - introduces this important but intimidating process, covering all aspects of the planning, design, and construction of new museums and the renovation or expansion of existing facilities. Developed from a survey by leading museum professionals of thirty museums throughout the United States, this richly illustrated volume offers insights not available from any other source. It provides first-hand information on all facets of the building experience, culled from interviews with trustees, staff, patrons, and civic leaders in the museum community, as well as clients, architects, designers, and construction professionals. It examines in detail pre-architectural planning and the creation of an architectural program; selecting and hiring architects and other professionals; designing the museum; the economics of bidding, contracting, and construction management; and the realities of completion, moving in, and ongoing operations. By covering the conceptual, psychological, and emotional, as well as procedural and technical, issues of the museum architectural process, Museum Design provides a complete context for building art museums and other once-in-a-generation institutional projects. Museum professionals, trustees, volunteers, architects, consultants, and others interested in arts administration and institutional management will find it an indispensable resource and a guide, filled with conceptual, technical, andpractical knowledge previously available only to those with years of building experience.