WHY Casework: Beyond the Cabinet of Curiosities
Originally published by WHY Architecture
When visiting a museum, how often do you stop to inspect the case in which an object is exhibited? A well-designed case will likely go unnoticed—unlike the didactic and imposing wooden cabinetry of the 19th century museum, contemporary casework design is intended to be as unobtrusive as possible, creating a near-seamless interface between the visitor and the object.
As a central factor in the visitor experience, casework has become an important area of expertise within the WHY Museums Workshop. Acting as a facilitator between leading consultants from multiple design disciplines, the Workshop addresses the visitor experience from all angles; and at the core of that experience is the opportunity to witness the power and presence of some of the world’s most extraordinary objects.
We’ve been lucky enough to work with collections at The Met, the Asian Art Museum, and the American Museum of Natural History—to name just a few—and successful casework design requires a high degree of technical expertise, creative problem solving, and committed collaboration. As a frame which simultaneously conserves, clarifies, and deepens the awareness of an object in relation to the surrounding space, casework can actively amplify the museum experience. Here are some of the key considerations:
CONSERVATION
Museums have two competing missions: to make exhibits accessible to visitors, while simultaneously ensuring that those exhibits are conserved for future generations. To put an object on display is to expose it to light, air, and potentially touch, thereby speeding up the process of decay. Casework effectively mediates between access and conservation needs, and design approaches have adapted with evolving institutional practices.
In addition to using museum-standard glass to block UV, infrared, and visible light, each case is also designed to provide a microclimate specific to the object it holds. While the climactic conditions of the gallery space might fluctuate due to the number of visitors, levels of daylight, or air flow, it’s vital that the interior temperature and air quality of a case is precisely maintained. This can be achieved through passive strategies such using desiccant to diminishes the rate of change of humidity, or active sensors which respond to changes in the external environment.
CLARITY
Glass quality and lighting are central to achieving casework clarity. Anti-reflective glass prevents distracting reflections, and design features such as glass mullions can remove obstructive framework from the visitor’s field of vision. Small LED fixtures and strategic spotlighting allow for high precision illumination, designed to create a sense of theatre and mood or an even and neutral effect.
Clarity should also be understood in terms of an overall environmental cohesion which allows for focus. Casework design needs to correspond to the material language, color palette, and lighting strategy of the entire gallery, taking account of the activity that may be taking place within the visitor’s peripheral vision. A balance also needs to be struck between cerebral and sensory experience. The placement of labels and texts should consider the potential for information overload, just as lighting strategies should prevent excessive and distracting shadowplay.
CIRCULATION
The placement and scenography of casework acts to shape the surrounding space, informing circulation patterns and narrative trajectories.
Casework is the armature for the stories a museum wants to tell; some objects may be presented as keyworks while others are part of a group that tell a story together. The visitor plays a role in furthering that narrative, navigating the gallery space at their own speed and charting their own journeys based on personal interest. The placement of casework should enable a degree of freedom and creative agency in the way that a visitor maps their own path, and attention to movement and pacing is key. We often think of casework placement in terms of a musical score; you need space between the notes to appreciate each exhibit, while considering the flow of the composition – the gallery space – as a whole.
COLLABORATION
When designing casework, it’s important to keep the entirety of the museum’s operations in mind; from logistics of transport, security, installation, and conservation, to the social and cultural influences which are driving [NL1] curatorial decisions. As museum architects, we’re required to be experts in all aspects of the complex infrastructure of the museum experience, and that takes a high degree of collaboration.
In addition to working closely with curators to form a relationship with each object and identify best placement, it’s also vital to establish the needs of the collection care team. The design of a case should ensure optimum ease of installation and maintenance, streamlining access to lighting components and internal compartments, and ensuring that objects can be efficiently removed and replaced during changing exhibitions.
Working with some of the world’s leading casework designers and fabricators, including Goppion SpA and Zone Display Cases, allows for a fluid integration of high-level technical precision and overall architectural cohesion. These strong partnerships are a defining feature of our practice; we collaborate with the design teams at these specialist fabricators during the design process, ensuring that the technicalities and aesthetic details of casework design are elegantly integrated within the overall architectural environment.
Far from being merely a passive glass box, an expertly designed case is an active and performative world of its own; as an agent playing its part within a wider process, casework can create the conditions for active looking, boosting a visitor’s receptivity to the power and significance of an exhibit.
That said, it’s worth noting that the museum experience extends beyond physical objects. It’s about the ways we move, interact, perceive, and feel – it’s about the ways that an experience travels with us as we leave the museum building, informing events in daily life and bringing us back to the museum to perceive anew. Ultimately, the role of the architect is not to define that experience, but to work collaboratively to set the scene and create the optimum conditions for connection and curiosity – and casework is a plays a central role in that infrastructure of wonder.
Originally published by WHY Architecture