Rethinking Museums is documentation of my senior thesis work of exploring how to get people interested in learning while at the same time providing them with an emotional experience they could not otherwise have, and also giving them somewhere social. These components, I believed and tested to design for, would greatly benefit all the goals of modern museums and positively impact lives of visitors.

 

     This process book examines the answers I have found to questions such as:

 

          + Do “socials” actually help with loneliness? 
          + How do people of different learning styles best learn?
          + What makes people most excited to learn?
          + How can a space utilize those methods of socializing and learning?
          + What new ways can technology be used to learn and engage?
          + What should be taught, and why? Is there an appropriate location?
          + What are some negative aspects of current museums? What is not working and why?

 

     That research is also documented here through observation at museums, social spaces, and installations, and interviews asked at the end of an exhibit to see what information was retained, as well as secondary research. This enabled me to overall develop a plan to design an exhibit that is more installation-based and interactive in nature that will bring people together and make them excited to learn. The plans for such a museum are included as well.