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International media attention has been drawn to the new museums under construction in some of the Arabian Peninsula states, in China, and other emerging economies, such as Azerbaijan and India. As renderings of spectacular buildings circulate with the press releases announcing new projects by 'starchitects' such as Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry, Zaha Hadid and Norman Foster+Associates, these museums represent a new dynamic in the production of cultural spaces. Providing, for the first time, a visual documentation of the development of these museums, the book offers a sustained architectural critique of the style of architecture that these museums represent. Examining some of these museums in China and the Arabian Peninsula, this book shows how they are less connected to local or regional cultural production than to globalized capitalist modernity. The book then contrasts this globalised aesthetic with the architecture of smaller museums that responds to regional vernacular architecture, traditional materials and construction methods of China and the Arabian Gulf. These projects are far less well known, but no less striking in their thoughtful and richly contextualized architectural approach, and revealing of a nuanced interpretation of the role and function of contemporary museums.
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1. Introduction: Museum Architecture in China and the Arabian Gulf: A brief history of museum architecture; 2. Contemporary Vernacular: Six case studies from China and the Arabian Gulf; 3. The Art of Restoration: Two case studies from the Arabian Gulf; 4. Deep Context: Three case studies from China; 5. From Local to Global: Architectural expansion: moving beyond the local; 6. The Future is Now: The spectacular new and planned museums of the Arabian Gulf and China
Über den Autor / die Autorin
Karen Exell is Honorary Senior Research Associate at UCL Qatar, and a consultant at Qatar Museums. She directed the MA in Museum and Gallery Practice at UCL Qatar from 2011-2015, after teaching museums studies and holding curatorial positions in university museums in the UK for several years.
Zusammenfassung
This book provides, for the first time, a visual documentation of the wave of 'starchitect'-designed museums under construction in certain Arabian Peninsula states, in China, and in emerging economies such as Azerbaijan and India. It offers a sustained architectural critique of the style of these new museums and suggests they represent a new dynamic in the production of cultural spaces.
Karen Exell argues that projects and finished buildings by the likes of Jean Nouvel, Frank Gehry and Norman Foster+Associates are less connected to regional cultural production than to globalized capitalist modernity, and contrasts this globalised aesthetic with the architecture of smaller museums that responds to more traditional regional materials and construction methods. These projects are less well known, but no less striking in their thoughtful and richly contextualised architectural approach, and reveal a nuanced interpretation of the role and function of contemporary museums.
For anyone seeking to understand the profusion of grand architectural projects within the cultural sector of emerging economies, The Global Spectacular provides invaluable insight into the varying socio-economic contexts driving their development and poses vital questions about their likely impact.
