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January 16, 2005
New Kid On the Block
Posted by Paula Thornton
Late in September 2004 the last piece of open real estate on the National Mall was filled up with the new National Museum of the American Indian. Given that there were so many people in town for the pending inauguration festivities (I've never seen so many Portapoties in a row) visiting the new Museum required that we stand in line for a while to get through security (just purse/backback checks). That delay gave us time to appreciate the gorgeous lines and texture of both the architecture and the landscape.
But that was only heightened by the visuals inside. I could have stared for hours at the detailed craftsmanship of the massive copper sculpture surrounding the ground floor tribal circle made to represent a wooden fence threaded with birch bark. Don't get me started on the design of the elevator doors, the matching theme inside the elevators and the stonework on the floors...
We headed straight for the 4th floor. We were there for over 2 hours and I only saw half of the exhibits just on that floor alone.
I wanted to publically thank all the designers involved in this fabulous celebration of history. I was particularly impressed with the multimodal design to be experienced in the Lelawi Theatre. An intimate circular setting (tiered bench seating in the round), at the center was a 4-sided logpole frame with a coarse cream woven blanket hung from each side. These served as projection screens...well, some of them. Under the frame was a large, lumpy rock-like piece that also served as a screen, and the domed ceiling overhead served as a screen as well. Literally, you would have to see the exhibit over and over again from different angles to take in all the visual projections. And it wasn't overdone.
The last item that I got to take in, that I just kept staring at, was a document signed by George Washington. In such an informal/comfortable environment, it seemed like such an important piece of history to be randomly mixed in with all the other artifacts. For a girl not used to being steeped in the history of America, it inspired an awe or two.
I guess maybe I should head to the National Mall more often on weekends. The price of admission (free) is certainly affordable.
Comments (1)
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BOB JACOBSON is fascinated by the experience of experience. A planner and technologist, Bob has a Ph.D. in Urban Planning & Design from UCLA. He's been a policy researcher, technology CEO, science writer, and consultant. As a Fulbright Scholar, he studied cellular telephony's impacts on transborder communities in the Nordic Arctic Circle. Bob edited Information Design (MIT Press 2000) and is now writing a book on the theory and practice of creating edifying, transformative experiences.
PAULA THORNTON says, "Understanding human behavior (economics), optimizing interactions (design) and facilitating conversations (markets), are the means to achieve strategic differentiation. This is the focus of our discipline. It is not a 'nice to have'‚ and is not, like documentation once was, an afterthought. It is the means by which to start a strategic discussion and the means by which to drive a tactical initiative. All design should be evidence-based."
1. Brad Bergh on January 17, 2005 10:49 AM writes...
The author notes the theater on the 4th floor. The theater design is only one innovative approach used by the museum to help the audience (if that is the correct term) experience the message. There were at least two others that I noted on that floor. There is no doubt that I want to go back simply to observe the different ways they help us absorb history. It is also interesting to see how "belief systems" impact the experience. The exhibit made this point, and made it effectively. The cultural context of both the artist / historian / author / story teller and his audience at the time of the communication are critical to "understanding" the "facts" of the past. Very thought provoking.
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