Literature Review

Introduction
Museum in General
A museum is an institution which collects, documents, preserves, exhibits and
interprets material evidence and associated information for the public benefit
(Museums Association (UK), 1984).
The design of museums, art galleries and the temporary exhibition spaces
associated with similar organizations involves the housing of a wide range of
functions broadly indicated in the common definitions of a museum. Museums,
however, vary considerably in size, organization and purpose. It is important
therefore to consider the particular context and features that characterize a
museum in the process of developing concepts.
Collections in national museums are very large and varied in material and
generally of international importance. The National Maritime Museum in
Greenwich, for example, houses collections of machinery, boats, costumes,
medals, ship models, paintings, silver, weapons, and scientific instruments,
among many other types of material. Such museums are staffed by a wide range
of highly qualified experts in collection management, research, conservation,
public relations and marketing.
In some local and private museums, collections are small, specific in material
content and of specialist or local interest. Many such museums have only one
qualified curator to oversee management of the collections and public services,
and many of the specialist functions may be provided by outside bodies such as
the Area Museum Councils. The given chart shows a typology of museums based
on subject/museological approach, collection characterization, and type of
institution.
Origins of the museum and gallery
Although records of collections of precious objects go back to Greek and Roman
times, art collecting in the modern sense began with the Italian Renaissance,
when enthusiasm for the products of classical antiquity and a sense of history
first developed. The first formal setting for the display of antiques was provided
by Bramante in the Vatican around the beginning of the 16 th century, and the
special display rooms of wealthy, private individuals in 16 th-century Germany and
Italy formed the architectural models for the 17th and 18th century art galleries,
which became almost a standardized element of palace planning.
The term museum, first used during the Renaissance, was a different
experience from what we now know. In a cabinet of curiosities natural and art
objects were jumbled together on the walls and ceilings, cupboards and drawers
of one or two rooms. Their purpose was to surprise and delight; viewers had to
find what attracted them and then make their own connections.
Public museums and galleries

After the opening of the Uffizi in Florence to a select public in 1591, other
museums followed later in the 17th century, among the first being the Tower of
London, the University museum at Basel and the Ashmolean at Oxford University
in 1683.
In 1753 Parliament established the British Museum to house the private
collection of the monarch, perhaps the first art museum supported by public
revenues. The opening of the Louvre in 1793 was a thoroughly republican event;
the revolutionaries commonly referred to the Louvre as an institution dedicated
to the glory of the nation. Public participation became an important aspect of
museum policies; a socio-political organism.
The 19th century

The dramatic rise of the museum in 19th century Europe was closely allied to
industrialization, a concern to gather up and preserve artefacts from the past
which provided a sense of continuity. At the same time, the new collections
served to illustrate and reinforce the ideology of linear progress which
underpinned and sustained the whole industrial revolution. Collections of pieces
of material culture provided public evidence of the progress of human rationale
and mans control over the environment. Industrial philanthropists provided
money to build museums and also aimed to display the products of national skill
for the edification of the public.
The 19th century museum was designed as a piece of ceremonial architecture in
which the idea of the sacred was translated into secular or national or civic
terms.
The present
While the 19th century museum was supported by an educated and refined,
although limited audience, now there is a much broader audience. With this
comes a need to make a collection as visible and readable as possible.
The unusual aspect of the present Lottery-funded buildings in Britain is that they
are all required to have majority public approval as a condition of funding.
Decision-making regarding the content and presentation is opened up to a much
wider sector of society than formerly, when the state or private patrons close to
the sources of political power made the decisions. As a result the architecture of
the museum is being reinterpreted.
The Role of the Museum

Up to the middle of the 20th century a museum was a place of learning, in which
notions of cultural dominance were reinforced visually through an imposing and
often severe approach in the design of the building. The museum now has to
represent a much more welcoming, all-embracing image, as it can no longer
afford to present a single establishment view of society and must reflect a
diversity of cultures and expectations. The most important task of the
contemporary museum is to communicate to the widest possible audience the
breadth of collections and accessibility of learning facilities.
Museums today are complex buildings housing different activities for people with
diverse interests, containing collections and accommodating general and
specialist staff dedicated to providing a service to the public as well as caring for
their collections. They have to be designed for both client and local community,
and to connect people of all types with museum objects.

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Introduction

Public museums and galleries

The 19th century

The Role of the Museum

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