Views across Boundaries and Groupings across Categories: The Morphology of Display in the Galleries of the High Museum of Art 1983-2003 A Dissertation Presented to The Academic Faculty by Pegah Zamani In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Architecture Georgia Institute of Technology December 2008 Copyright © 2008 by Pegah Zamani Views across Boundaries and Groupings across Categories: The Morphology of Display in the Galleries of the High Museum of Art 1983-2003 Approved by: Dr. John Peponis, Advisor Professor, College of Architecture Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Sonit Bafna Associate Professor, College of Architecture Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. Ellen Yi-Luen Do Associate Professor, College of Architecture Georgia Institute of Technology Dr. David Brenneman Director of Collections and Exhibitions; Frances B. Bunzl Family Curator of European Art The High Museum of Art Dr. Kenneth Knoespel Professor and Chair of School of Literature, Communication and Culture, Ivan Allen College Georgia Institute of Technology Date Approved: November 14, 2008 to my mother, Parvaneh, the butterfly and in memory of my father Acknowledgments In the broadest sense, the trajectory of my academic life has led me to encounter many individuals who, whether deliberately or not, became instrumental for the progress of my doctoral study. Without them, this dissertation would not have been possible, and to thank all of them deservedly remains beyond words. Among all those, I wish to gratefully acknowledge: Professor John Peponis, for being an enthusiastic advisor who constantly raised incisive criticism and intellectual challenges, and for being a friend whose stimulation goes far beyond what is presented here. John’s fundamental contribution and outstanding guidance have been reflected in my doctoral research; his mode of thinking will certainly continue to influence my work in the future. Dr. Sonit Bafna, for being a great source of insight and inspiration; I consistently had his encouragement, friendship and support in crucial academic decisions through the Ph.D. labyrinth. Dr. Ellen Yi-Luen Do, for her continuous interest, helpful recommendations and unwavering support. The external examiners of my dissertation: Dr. David Brenneman, for his sharp criticism which helped me bridge between curatorial and architectural worlds, and for his valuable comments which sharpened my arguments; Dr. Kenneth Knoespel, for opening new horizons of learning, and for encouraging me to blend my cross-cultural studies and life. In our discussions, the Western and non- Western theories have constantly been in dialogue with each other. Marjorie Harvey of the HMA and Merrill Elam of Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects for generously opening their archives and for the willingness to share their intellectual points of view. They made this research possible. Carol Thompson (curator at HMA), Marianne Eggler-Gerozissis (lecturer at MoMA), Dr. Ivan Karp, and Dr. Corinne A. Kratz (co-directors of the Center for the Study of Public Scholarship at Emory University), for providing their time for interviews, sharing their insightful remarks and interests at key stages of this research. Prof. Sabir Khan, for giving me his unbounded encouragement and multi-dimensional support for several years. I feel deeply indebted to his tremendous influence, guidance and inspiration in my teaching endeavors which deeply enriched my experience at Georgia Tech. The late Dean Thomas Galloway and Prof. Doug Allen for their continued financial support that made possible my studies at Georgia Tech. Prof. Christopher Jarrett and Prof. Ellen Dunham-Jones for giving me the unique opportunity of teaching at the COA. Prof. Charles Eastman, for his valuable support and providing opportunities to travel and present my research to a wider audience. Dr. Craig Zimring, for his vigorous encouragement and faith in my insights, especially during the challenging first years at the doctoral program. Dr. Ruth Conroy Dalton, for her interest and stimulating discussions on the spatial cognition and virtual environments. Dr. Roozbeh Kangari, Dr. Saeid L. Sadri, and Dr. Linda Thomas-Mobley for their generous support. Researchers at the Graphics, Visualization & Usability Center at Georgia Tech, particularly Dr. Sha Xin Wei at the Topological Media Lab, for exposing me to the art and science of interactive spaces; and Dr. Bruce Walker and others at the Cognitive Science Program. iv Faculty members at COA for their insightful discussions and friendship, in particular: Dr. Franca Trubiano for the ideas on spatial layering; Dr. Athanassios Economou for his introduction to shape grammars; Jude Leblanc, Fred Pearsall, Gernot Riether, and Ann Gerondelis for the delightful semesters of studio teaching. A special word of thanks also to my CFY and sophomore students for being creative and bold and raising many stimulating questions which led me to ‘rethink’ the nature of the design education. Yi Lu for generously sharing with me his analytical computer scripts, and Matthew Swarts for his valuable help on modeling and animation of virtual environments. My colleagues and friends at the Morphology, ABC, HTC, and AEC Integration Laboratories, particularly Ghang, Frank, Anjali, Fehmi, Hazem, Mahbub, Sharon, Weiling, Manu, Martin, Ayse, Alice, Selen, Carina, Myrsini, Atefeh, Elif and Julie, among many others, for their warm support, knowingly or unknowingly. And many other friends who made my past years a real happiness: Ann Campbell, Dr. Ruchi Choudhary, Dr. Barbara Green, Dr. Fakhri Hagghani and Hassan, Dr. Houri Johari, Dr. Salman Mohagheghi. Dr. Delphine Nain, Dr. Maneli Noorkami, Parisa Pooyan, Dr. Mina Raiszadeh, Pari Riahi, Ms. Rose, Dr. Amin Saberi, Nusha Safabakhsh, Azin Sahabi, Dr. Mina Sartipi, Shadi Torab and Dr. Claudia Winegarden. Numerous academic staff members at Georgia Tech for their kind help over the years. I am especially grateful to Mercedes Saghini and Paula Peche for their assistance; Robert Gerhart, Jeff Langston, Trent Chima, and Perry Minyard for the numerous computer support; Dr. Tolek Lesniewski and Jonathan Shaw of the Imagine Lab; staff at the Architecture Library for facilitating my research; and Ms. Gail Potts, director of graduate studies, for generously accommodating my deadlines. My teachers and mentors who significantly influenced the development of my ideas about architectural design; I am especially indebted to my teachers at the University of Tehran, the guidance of Dr. Hojat Ghadimi, and the research support by the Ministry of Sciences Research & Technology. My deepest gratitude is to my friends and family members, near and distant, stretched across continents: Dr. Saghar Navid, Rozi Rofugaran, Dr. Katayoon Javadi, Dr. Mehrnaz Maleki Fischbach, Baharhereh Amini and Padideh Alem, for their inspiring and solid friendship over the decades. To Dr. Jusuf Shpuza, for keeping me in his caring thoughts - faleminderit shumë. To my aunts Parvin, Minoo and Mahvash, who with their love and books led me to be the person I am today. To Pedram, Rashid and Rauf, for being the best brothers one could hope for. Their amusement and humor was my escape when everything looked impossible in this endeavor. They put the color inside of my world. To Parvaneh, an amazing friend and mother, for her unconditional love, inspiration, sacrifice and confidence in me. Her belief that education is a catalyst to fulfill one’s existence has been instrumental in my life. Although divided by a geographic distance, her presence was never far away. And to Ermal, for his enormous love, friendship and compassion, and for bringing the Primavera 02. v Table of Contents Acknowledgments iv List of Tables xii List of Figures xiii Summary xxi Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Prelude: Galleries as Spatial Patterns 1 1.2 Methodology 4 1.3 Outline of the Thesis 10 Chapter 2 Objects and Arrangements: A Review of Literature 15 2.1 Objects, Classes, Groups 16 2.1.1 The Object 16 2.1.2 Classification of Objects 17 2.1.3 Grouping of Objects 20 Spatial Grouping or Isolation of Objects 2.1.4 Classes, Groups, Boundaries and Visual Fields 21 Cross-visibility and Cross-comparison Co-visibility and Co-presence 2.2 Views, Movements, Sequences 26 2.2.1 Objects, Views, Paths 26 Sequential Order of Seeing and Moving 2.2.2 Dictated Sequences and Free Paths, Limited and Open Views 28 Museum Fatigue 2.3 Objects and Arrangements: Curatorial Paradigms 32 vi 2.3.1 Objects Grouping: the Doctrine of “Correlation” 33 “Varied Transparency” The “Science of Relationships” The Interrelation of Objects, Viewers and Space Viewers with “Fields of Vision” 2.3.2 Mapping inside the White-box 38 The One-way Diagrammatic Map 2.3.3 Vistas: the Display Technique of “Overlapping Vistas” and “Visual 41 Comparisons” The Theoretical Concept of “Affinity” Stylistic Comparison 2.4. Synopsis 45 Chapter 3 Architectural and Curatorial Trajectories of the HMA -1903 to 49 1983 3.1 HMA Pre -1983: the Institutional Chronology 49 3.2 HMA 1983: the Opening 55 3.2.1 HMA 1983: Architectural Principles - Richard Meier 59 The Spatial Organization of the Layout: Squares The Spatial Organization of the Layout: Grid and Columns Spatial Experience of Layout: the Atrium and the Ramp as the Choreographed Route Spatial Experience of Layout: Galleries Overlapping of Systems: “Where the Movement System is a Viewing System” The Notion of “Multiple Views in Displaying an Object”: Frank Stella “Shifting views”: New York School Exhibition, 1977 vii Meier’s