Description
Imagine that UC Berkeley has decided to build a new museum that represents what is taught on campus, and displays each school’s educational materials to the broader public. The museum should be a unique example of what a global, inclusive museum should be in the 21st Century. Every school will contribute by curating one section of the museum.
As part of this project, CED students have been invited to select 10-15 buildings, gardens, or urban ensembles for the Architectural History section of the museum. Write a proposal to describe what this section should look like. Your proposal should address the following two topics:
Discuss the curatorial choices of the section. Looking at architectural history before the 20th Century, what types of architecture should the section display, and why? How should they be organized? Consider cases of architecture, landscapes, and/or urban ensembles and provide 10-15 examples.
Discuss the architecture of the museum itself. What architectural styles(s) and elements are appropriate for a museum that represents UC Berkeley Campus? Are there any architects who you would propose to design it or should it be a competition? If a competition, what should the brief say?
Important: This assignment should help you reflect on who was historically included, misrepresented, ignored, or purposely excluded from “global museums.” Museums emerged from the European enlightenment and its colonial project, as spaces to collect, classify, and establish hierarchies among cultures. Furthermore, you should use this assignment to investigate what formal language of architecture you want to use to convey your intentions. Do you deconstruct hierarchies through symmetry/asymmetry, mass/volume, transparency/opaqueness, historical awareness/a-historical abstraction? Hierarchies are constructed through the objects that are exhibited but also through the architecture that displays them.
