Cabinets of Wonder
Cabinets of Wonder: Treehouse Museum
Treehouse Museum Presentation Slides. During Cabinets of Wonder, a course on design for museums, we were asked us to present a pitch for our “dream museum.” We were to assume we had a massive budget, and that any barriers could be overcome; if it was physically possible, we could propose it. I chose to focus [...]
Cabinets Week 8: Museum Design Manifesto
Week 8: time to distill what we’ve loved and hated about all of our museum visits over the past few weeks into our own experience design manifestos. Here’s mine… Transport and/or transform the audience, if only for a moment. Inspire wonder, curiosity, and delight, even in the face of difficult subjects. Expect the best from [...]
Cabinets Week 5: New York Hall of Science
My first thought upon walking into the New York Hall of Science was, “Yay! We get to play!” My second thought was, “And I won’t have to feel like I am hogging the exhibits since there are hardly any kids here.” (Third thought? “Please don’t let me get pink eye or swine flu or whatever [...]
Cabinets Week 4: Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History has always been one of my favorite places in the city, but for some reason I was really grouchy when I visited this time, and my notes reflect that. So, sorry AMNH, but this will not be the love song I might have written to you had I visited [...]
Cabinets Week 3: MJH, NMAI, & Eldridge St.
For our third week of visits, Nancy asked us to explore three museums focused on the history or art of specific communities. I chose to visit the Museum of Jewish Heritage, and the National Museum of the American Indian. I had visited the Museum at Eldridge Street a few weeks ago, and my time there [...]
Cabinets Week 2: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
I’ve been to Brooklyn Botanic several times, and I’m always a little surprised at how casual the entrance is. The guards are chatty, and people are sitting or standing in a relaxed way that is very different from other types of museums. I’ve noticed this at New York Botanical, too. This time I visited Brooklyn [...]
Cabinets Week 1: The Met and The Frick
Last Saturday afternoon I visited The Frick Collection and The Metropolitan Museum of Art for Cabinets of Wonder. For each visit, Nancy has asked us to gather our first impressions of the place, observe others in the space, and write a collection of short reviews, adopting a variety of viewpoints. The Frick always seems to [...]