took my first trip down to battery park yesterday. beautiful blue sky, freezing cold wind. probably not the best day for the trip. anyway, the purpose of the trip was to visit the skyscraper museum, which i'd seen published a number of times. i wanted to experience the place, see if it lived up to the "hype."
i must say, i was pretty dissapointed. it's not that the space was necessarily bad, it was okay, not spectacular but i've definately been in museums/exhibits with more problematic circulation. what WAS disappointing (i know i'm not spelling that word right but i'm being lazy and not going to look it up) was the quality of the construction. the wall panels were sagging, paint was chipping of some of the fixtures, there were mp3 players velcroed to the wall with the velcro showing beyond the edges of the players, large squares cut out for the sprinkler heads, and the light columns had a gap between the top of them and the ceiling.
it felt like I (yes, i do mean "I") had gone in there and in my usual impatient manner didn't think through the actual construction and just really wanted to get it all put together so i could see how cool it looked. i understand that some of this material had not perhaps been used in this manner before and the adhesives may not be performing as expected, but it was still frustrating.
has anyone else seen the museum? how long ago? were these problems there soon after it opened or is it something that is more recent?
in the first place how did the overall feel of the museum impact you? what did you feel of the overall space?
my two cents. no harm intended on your crit of the detail, in fact its informative. but i was just thinkin...
maybe because you have architecture background, thats why u inspected downright into the details and all (dont get me wrong, im into architecture and i'd do the same myself)...
but what if it was ordinary people who just visit the museum? did you imagine yourself to be in the same position? i mean, they wont have been as critical of the details as you would have...
i personally havent been there, but i'd like to try to experience architectural space as a commoner first...
i was trying to remember that, that feeling, what was it like...i often tend to do as you, to remember to experience a space first as a typical user, not formally educated in design, and i forgot to do that this time. i remember thinking how the height of the room did feel higher b/c of the reflective materials, and the layout of the exhibit was okay, but i wasn't really struck by the space.
i don't know if people would have noticed those construction details, at least consciously. they perhaps would have seen the distortions from the sagging panels as "effects" to enliven the space, which i suppose they could be viewed that way.
and i also suppose that if i'm only paying $5 to get in to a museum i shouldn't expect top quality, but b/c the essence was so simple it would have really been nice to see some funds put in to the construction.
and maybe that's why i'm asking. b/c i forgot to really look at/feel the space as a typical user. i hate it when i do that!
Feb 7, 07 11:53 pm ·
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Skyscraper Museum
took my first trip down to battery park yesterday. beautiful blue sky, freezing cold wind. probably not the best day for the trip. anyway, the purpose of the trip was to visit the skyscraper museum, which i'd seen published a number of times. i wanted to experience the place, see if it lived up to the "hype."
i must say, i was pretty dissapointed. it's not that the space was necessarily bad, it was okay, not spectacular but i've definately been in museums/exhibits with more problematic circulation. what WAS disappointing (i know i'm not spelling that word right but i'm being lazy and not going to look it up) was the quality of the construction. the wall panels were sagging, paint was chipping of some of the fixtures, there were mp3 players velcroed to the wall with the velcro showing beyond the edges of the players, large squares cut out for the sprinkler heads, and the light columns had a gap between the top of them and the ceiling.
it felt like I (yes, i do mean "I") had gone in there and in my usual impatient manner didn't think through the actual construction and just really wanted to get it all put together so i could see how cool it looked. i understand that some of this material had not perhaps been used in this manner before and the adhesives may not be performing as expected, but it was still frustrating.
has anyone else seen the museum? how long ago? were these problems there soon after it opened or is it something that is more recent?
hi
in the first place how did the overall feel of the museum impact you? what did you feel of the overall space?
my two cents. no harm intended on your crit of the detail, in fact its informative. but i was just thinkin...
maybe because you have architecture background, thats why u inspected downright into the details and all (dont get me wrong, im into architecture and i'd do the same myself)...
but what if it was ordinary people who just visit the museum? did you imagine yourself to be in the same position? i mean, they wont have been as critical of the details as you would have...
i personally havent been there, but i'd like to try to experience architectural space as a commoner first...
i was trying to remember that, that feeling, what was it like...i often tend to do as you, to remember to experience a space first as a typical user, not formally educated in design, and i forgot to do that this time. i remember thinking how the height of the room did feel higher b/c of the reflective materials, and the layout of the exhibit was okay, but i wasn't really struck by the space.
i don't know if people would have noticed those construction details, at least consciously. they perhaps would have seen the distortions from the sagging panels as "effects" to enliven the space, which i suppose they could be viewed that way.
and i also suppose that if i'm only paying $5 to get in to a museum i shouldn't expect top quality, but b/c the essence was so simple it would have really been nice to see some funds put in to the construction.
and maybe that's why i'm asking. b/c i forgot to really look at/feel the space as a typical user. i hate it when i do that!
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