Psarra, S; Lazaridou, A; (2015) Experiencing three-dimensional museum environments: An investigation of the Ashmolean Museum and the Museum of Scotland. In: Proceedings of the 10th International Space Syntax Symposium. Space Syntax Laboratory, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London

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Abstract

The relationship between the spatial organisation of museums and visitors' experience has been widely explored. However, previous studies rarely focused upon the actual use and effect of the atria on how people navigate. To understand this interaction entails answering the following research question: How exploration and movement in museums are affected by two and three-dimensional properties? This question is investigated by the comparative study of the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, renovated by Rick Mather Architects (2009), and the Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, designed by Benson and Forsyth (1998). The two museums are selected as relevant cases for their spatial similarities and significant differences closely connected to the organisation of their atria. The intention is to understand whether atria account for similar or different exploration patterns in the ways users navigate in three dimensions. The comparative analysis, stemming from space use observations, space syntax methods and agent simulations, shows that significant differences in real and simulated movement result from the varying spatial positioning and character of the voids. Variability in spatial behaviour derives from the impact of the third dimension, assigning different identities and orientating capacities to the atria and the museums.

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