Museum’s Architecture and Its Relation with the City. Three Exemplary Works by Moshe Safdie
Museum’s Architecture and Its Relation with the City. Three Exemplary Works by Moshe Safdie

Summary/Abstract: Museums are a vital part of an ever-changing world. In order to remain relevant, they need to be as inclusive and participatory as possible. Furthermore, they have to see themselves not as an addition to the city, rather than a part of it, seemingly blended with the urban fabric. During our research, we focused on three museums by the Canadian-Israeli architect Moshe Safdie: the National Gallery of Canada, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, and the Holocaust Historical Museum Yad Vashem. The current inquiry is structured to examine specific parameters in the light of the common architect, and specifically how he created three totally different museums, having to deal with fundamentally different standards and challenges. The museums were examined and compared in terms of their location, their accessibility and harmonization with their milieu, whether urban or not, their connection with the city, how they form as a landmark in it, the materials from which they were built, and finally in terms of their exhibition space in general. In conclusion, the importance of architecture as a narrator is underlined alongside with the museum’s collection and the visitor itself. We strongly believe that having an architecture that not only supports but evolves the message of the museum can help the institution be more approachable, interactive and participatory. Museum architecture should not be an afterthought, on the contrary it should be one of the priorities of the 21st century museum.

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