TOWARDS PARTICIPATION IN MUSEUM ARCHITECTURE Thesis submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Leicester by Aikaterini Vlachaki School of Museum Studies, University of Leicester 2020 2 Abstract Towards Participation in Museum Architecture Aikaterini Vlachaki This thesis sets out to explore how museums can use the planning processes of museum buildings as a vehicle for fulfilling their social role, even before their establishment as physical entities. Considering people as experiential co-designers who hold a valuable tacit knowledge of design and museum matters, museums can transform the planning processes into a participatory endeavour. The thesis examines two examples of innovation in practice, two museum buildings built from scratch or redeveloped through participatory processes: The Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art (USA) and The Derby Silk Mill Museum of Making (UK). The first key finding of the thesis is that participatory intentions are not solely results of a purely social agenda, but also of a wider institutional agenda that could potentially seek to legitimise certain inequalities through a participatory endeavour. The research also found that the role of leadership is key for both inspiring and sustaining participatory initiatives. Another key finding is that a project widely communicating its participatory character could in fact involve similar forms and degrees of participation with a project with a less systematic approach towards its participatory nature. Additionally, the research shed more light on the systematisation of participatory planning processes of museum buildings and their key challenges and found that the source of funding could impact the degree of experiential co-designers’ participation in the project and “alienate” the outcomes from the initial participatory intentions. Finally, this thesis found that participatory planning processes are not necessarily antithetical to conventional planning processes and can be realised within the tangible, bureaucratic reality that frames any building project. Articulating the first steps towards a participatory model for museum architecture, this thesis manifests that participatory planning processes of museum buildings are a viable option and encourages both museum and design professionals to take little steps towards change. 3 Acknowledgments Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor Suzanne MacLeod and Dr. Isobel Whitelegg for their guidance throughout the project. Professor MacLeod has been much more than a supervisor, she was an endless source of energy, support and inspiration throughout my post-graduate studies. Dr.Whitelegg has also provided valuable support at critical stages of this project, such as the daunting probation review. I would also like to thank the school of Museum Studies, its staff members and PhD community. I will always treasure my experience in the School, initially as a MA student and then as a PhD researcher. I would also like to thank Dr.Giasemi Vavoula for her valuable support. I am also grateful to Onassis Foundation for making this research project possible by offering a generous scholarship and to College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities for supporting my fieldtrip to USA. I am also grateful to all the interviewees for their time and valuable insight, as well as to all those people from the Derby Silk Mill Museum of Making, the Manetti Shrem Museum of Art and the University of Davis that made this research possible. I am also grateful to my VIVA examiners, Professor Jonathan Hale and Dr Rosemary Shirley, for their valuable feedback. Finally, I would like to thank my beloved family and friends. 4 This thesis is dedicated to my family Flora Vlaserou, Manolis Vlaseros, Maria Vlaserou, Katerina Vlaserou and Nikos Vlachakis and In memory of Nikos Vlaseros 5 6 Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................ 3 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................. 4 Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 11 A. Research Problem and objectives ................................................................................. 11 B. Research Questions ....................................................................................................... 12 C. Research Context .......................................................................................................... 12 D. Significance and contribution of the research .............................................................. 17 E. Definitions ..................................................................................................................... 19 F. Outline of the thesis ...................................................................................................... 27 Chapter 2 Literature Review ............................................................................................ 30 A. Sociological accounts of (museum) architecture ........................................................... 31 B. Conventional and alternative architecture .................................................................... 42 B.1. The illusion of sole authorship ................................................................................... 42 B.2. Architecture as a collective and ongoing endeavour ................................................ 44 B.3. Users’ agency ............................................................................................................. 46 B.4. Socially responsible architecture ............................................................................... 49 B.5. Towards a new architectural role .............................................................................. 52 C. End users’ participation in architectural processes ...................................................... 55 C.1. Participatory Design in an architectural context and degrees of participation ......... 55 C.2. Key principles of PD in an architectural context ........................................................ 58 C.3. Forms of participation in architectural processes ..................................................... 62 C.4. The challenges of Participatory Design ...................................................................... 63 C.5. Participatory Methods ............................................................................................... 66 C.6. Examples and Models of Participatory Design ........................................................... 68 D. (Participatory) museum and (participatory) museum architecture .............................. 71 D.1. Contemporary museum’s civic role ........................................................................... 72 D.2. The participatory museum ........................................................................................ 75 D.3. Museum (st)architecture ........................................................................................... 80 D.4. The challenges of museum building projects ............................................................ 83 D.5. Museum architecture, museum mission, typical and unconventional planning processes ........................................................................................................................... 86 Chapter 3 Methodology and Research Design .................................................................. 91 A. Qualitative Inquiry......................................................................................................... 92 B. Ontological and Epistemological Positions ................................................................... 93 C. Conceptual Framework ................................................................................................. 94 7 C.1. The Bourdieusian lens ................................................................................................ 94 C.2. The theory of Communities of Practice ..................................................................... 98 C.3. Plug-and-Play ........................................................................................................... 106 D. Limitations ................................................................................................................... 109 E. Research Design .......................................................................................................... 110 E.1. Data collection ......................................................................................................... 113 E.2. Description of fieldwork ........................................................................................... 119 E.3 Data Analysis and Interpretation .............................................................................. 122 E.4. Measures of quality ................................................................................................. 124 E.5. Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................. 126 Chapter 4 Derby Silk Mill Museum of Making ................................................................. 128 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 128 A. Challenges-Opportunities