International Museum Construction Congress Edinburgh 2024
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I attended the IMCC 2024, the congress for international museum and design professionals, for DVDL over the three sold-out days in Edinburgh. The teams of the latest and greatest projects shared the successes, obstacles and unexpected solutions.
There are some key findings that were common across the different continents and regions. Museums are the contemporary community centres where residents and visitors can mix. There is an enormous concentration on their role as safe and inspiring spaces.
- Large capital projects need Strategic and Curatorial Clarity of Purpose, as much as clear project management
- Museums are thinking of the whole Campus – a true Inside/Outside experience
- The journey of the Visitor Experience
- Community involvement to inform the process
- Digital / Technology is inherent in all exhibition design
- The role of education and learning is not limited to a classroom off to the side
- Large competitions are not the only way to find great architectural partners
- Peekaboo: Put the stores on view
- FLEXIBILITY / ADAPTABILITY: Spaces need to be sustainable for the long-view.
The congress distributed the presentations, conversations and networking across significant venues in Edinburgh: National Museum of Scotland; an evening reception at National Galleries of Scotland; the University of Edinburgh McEwan Hall and elegant Balmoral Hotel overlooking the Old Town.
The experience of the building’s operation and curation has become increasingly crucial to the success, alongside the activation of the spaces, both architectural and landscape. There is a high-demand for activation across the spaces and even in the arrival to the ‘campus’ of museum and that immediate, live interaction is why people cross the threshold.
Similarly, the museum consumer is highly-functioning as a cyborg; moving between their guides, data and augmented realities and the love for the physical object. Digital isn’t a separate choice as content; it is an expected and integral part of the design and learning.
In addition to hearing about case studies in which there was a range of approaches and long journeys – often hitting a ‘Valley of Despair’ at some point (in which the project team needs analyze if they are on the right trajectory). It was fascinating to listen to how different museums pivoted or galvanized to articulate their vision and risk.
I also chose to attend the pre-congress workshop from professionals working in six continents. The discussion was trusting and vulnerable – key pre-planning data was shared; challenges put forth; and the new models of museum-building were highlighted. It’s not just long-standing institutions having renovations or developing larger facilities, there are foundations generating their own curated-museums and a new variety that are purposefully built looking for long-term operators. We worked through key questions regarding design team structures, containing more multi-disciplinary sub-contractors and the need for the community and sector engagement at early points in the process.
At the heart of this are key learning lessons: involve curators and staff on the journey where possible and the visitor experience and the related OPEX expenses are as important as the architectural CAPEX priorities.
The more transparency and less myth means: Process, Product and People are equally crucial.
