For an architect or interior designer circulation is always one of the main keys in the upbringing of a structure. This is a designer’s need to give people the access to be able to get where they want and also to provide a space function. Circulation is a concept of providing a unique experience just as it can also be irregular and provide chaos.
As I entered the Frick Collection I immediately noticed the play of light, it was dim. I wondered why for a moment but then came up with the explanation that it’s the need to provide intimacy with the art provided. As one goes from the room to another you get the sense of which rooms were more important than others in the mansion. A major mission for this museum seems to be the community and the education that the Frick family provided with their works of art. All rooms have some sculpture or portrait to offer the visitor but once the visitor enters the museum there isn’t a specific sequence. Their isn’t an accumulative understanding from one room to another it’s just a venture with your own logic of flow.
However, there are also designed museums which are created for the embodiment of artwork like the Guggenheim Museum. As you enter the museum you notice this white aura that evokes grandeur and makes things seem bigger than they really are. The play of white also creates this nice background for the portraits allowing the visitor to only focus on the painting. Now, when Frank Lloyd designed the Guggenheim he wanted to create an experience with the circulation. He wanted people to start from top to bottom and allow gravity to bring people back to the origin point. An exciting feature of this museum is the swirling ramp that shows the visitor what it wants them to see. It has sequence and organization. It’s a place that defines the venture for the person rather the person finding their own way through the structure.
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