A comparative study of graph structures, traversability movement and exhibition strategy in museums during Covid-19

ABSTRACT

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has posed challenges in relation to how buildings re-open to use, particularly buildings attracting large numbers of visitors, such as museums and galleries. As these institutions started to reopen across the UK and internationally, a number of social distance measures were adopted in order to safely bring people into their premises and access their collections. Building on Bill Hillier's theorical model of spatial types and spatial structures (2019), we explore the spatial-curatorial changes implicated in the re-opening of five British museums (The National Gallery, The Tate Britain, Tate Modern, British Museum and The Wallace Collection in London) and one American museum (The MoMA, New York). Our purpose is not to provide practical solutions, but to set the search for spatial approaches to the reopening of museums within a theory of spatial structure in space syntax and inform the design future of public buildings. We present a model of a three-layered spatial system, interfacing the global and local structure of these buildings. We argue that the presence of intersecting cycles of movement in spatial layouts determines their capability for adapting to the one-way routes imposed by the pandemic. The spatial organisation of the display is a second factor influencing the reopening strategies, either limiting or optimising available spatial sequences to meet curatorial criteria. © 2022 Proceedings 13th International Space Syntax Symposium, SSS 2022. All rights reserved.