How can museum design be more empathic and equitable?
“At no point was the goal to build an outdoor museum. Some people even said, ‘Don’t call it a museum,’ because it automatically screams, ‘less access… it’s not for us.’”
— Joanne Kim, Senior Advisor to Los Angeles City Councilmember Marqueece Harris-Dawson, recalling the search for a name that would fully reflect the equity of the place Destination Crenshaw wants to be
It’s time to design our future
Rethinking the 21st-Century Museum: Equitable Design took place over three sessions in June and July 2021. Recognizing the need to expand the audience of museums as well as fundamental shifts in technology, visitor behavior, and community interests, a diverse group of museum professionals and designers came together to reimagine the future of the museum’s built environment.
We found that equity in design respects the emotional, social, and political dynamics of space.
We workshopped carefully selected case studies in three conceptual categories—Civic Hubs, Belonging, and Inclusive Design—as innovative models for best practices in equitable cultural design. We asked how museum design practice can be more empathic and equitable to achieve more fully democratic, participatory, and polyphonic spaces.
Let’s rethink placemaking
The term “placemaking” was first introduced in the 1960s by Jane Jacobs, William “Holly” Whyte, and their colleagues. Building on this history, we offer some redefinitions of the concept that provide greater depth and insight into the dynamics of spatial equity. They also give context for the case studies and intellectual capital we assembled in our workshops last summer.
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Acknowledgement
This series was co-produced by Snyder Consultancy, AEA Consulting, and Perkins&Will, with sponsorship to AREA Research from Agnes Gund. Project leadership included Jill Snyder, principal, Snyder Consultancy; Daniel Payne, managing principal, AEA Consulting; Casey Jones, principal, Zena Howard, principal and global cultural and civic practice chair, Kate Nation and Lauren Neefe, Editorial Directors, Perkins&Will. View the full list of participants on our Case Studies page.