Natalie Perri
Flow
Critic: Daniel Markiewicz
Penn Museum
Philadelphia, PA
Fall 2021
The typical museum experience consists of a very static interaction between a visitor and the displayed exhibition, where one simply just views the encased artifacts. Penn Museum’s mission has been slowly transitioning to craft a more unique
experiential environment.
The concept for this proposal is to foster a unique experience that is directly influenced by physical movement. An adventure can be generated if the architecture responded to human gestures and rhythmic movement. The architecture itself will encourage this exploration of spaces, guiding visitors to a relic. This questions the assumption that one’s personal movement in spaces is irrelevant.
The architectural forms are derived from the flow of circulation. There are a variety of cross-sectional views. These cross-sectional views will introduce fragments of artifacts while the architecture simultaneously blocks the full view of the artifact.
This further encourages visitors to explore and circulate through the gallery spaces. Occupants play a critical role with the building as they hold the power to explore and discover the artifacts within the museum.
Regarding the construction materials, the expansion is constructed with a translucent concrete building material. This allows for light to diffuse in the interior spaces, which are housing fragile artifacts. The existing brick cladding delicately bleeds into the expansion. As the expansion continues, the brick dissolves into this contemporary concrete material.