The Museum Boom: Is Your Museum Sustainable?
The Museum Boom: Is Your Museum Sustainable?
October 10, 2019 by Taylor Studios
How many museums are too many? Between 1995 and 2012, 652
museums were built or expanded worldwide. In his book Guido Guerzoni used surveys, case studies, and
essays to analyze the phenomenon of the museum boom. One thing’s for sure, museums
are not on the wane!
The overarching question Guerzoni asks is “Are all of these museums sustainable?” With each year, museums are becoming increasingly popular and diverse. They can act as tourist draws, urban landmarks, iconic totems, city regenerators, and flagship projects. The aim of Museums on the Map was to provide benchmarks for the field and data for feasibility studies. How big should a museum be? What does it cost to create a museum? Are there different costs for different types of museums? How long does it take to create or expand a museum? What are the ongoing expenses and maintenance costs?
Here are a few key takeaways:
One of the discoveries of this project that really stood out
to me is that architects love building museums. For them, it’s like winning the
lottery. Yet, big-name museum architects do not seem sensitive to the economic
sustainability of the institution that they are designing a building for. Architects
may see the building itself as the real attraction and prioritize form over
function. Museum clients allow this to happen. They pick the architect and choosing
a celebrity increases the probability of spending more.
Another aspect that I found intriguing is that museums are
feeling like they always need to be focusing on creating new content. Given
limited resources, this may take away from the traditional role of conservation.
Visitors’ tastes and demands have changed and they expect constantly-renewed
content that is varied and full of meaning. Museums must become content
providers, publishers, and ad producers. This will take more and more resources
and they may have to choose between bricks and ideas.
I can’t deny that I was happy to hear the need for
“production” of new content, meanings, and interpretation. Of course, that’s
what does. Museums often
don’t have the capacity to produce new exhibits, and an outside exhibit partner
can help. We are very
and -minded,
offering
to help our clients budget before they even get started. We want our clients to
be successful long into the future and therefore ,
design, and build exhibits for .
Post-recession planning has museums reflecting on long-term
survival and their ability to execute their institutional missions with
dignity. More competition, lower funding opportunities, and higher running and
maintenance costs show a need to rethink the design criteria going forward.
Through careful planning, and data-driven resources like Museums on the Map,
museums can ensure that growth can be achieved and maintained over time.