Design processes for enhancing museums through the use of technology and the involvement of local communities

Abstract

The present contribution aims to present three different models that describe how a design process can advance a territory by enhancing its cultural heritage through museum exhibition systems. The models were developed starting from the analysis of four case studies: Museo Audiovisivo della Resistenza, Museo Storico Italiano della Guerra, Atlantic Wall and Coordinamento delle Case Museo dei Poeti e Scrittori di Romagna. These case studies were selected and described on the basis of the characteristics they share: a strong connection with the territory, its history and its residents, the use of technology to improve the visitor experience and a participative approach to the design and development of the exhibition. The result of the case study analysis leads to the identification of three models: the first model is based on an interactive museum with custom technologies, the second on an interactive museum with a customizable system, and the third on an interactive museum with an open-source approach. In particular, the three models show that a greater degree of openness contributes to a greater involvement of local communities and a systemic enhancement of the territory.

New Education Pathways for Future Designers in a Changing World

“…The first, how designers can apply their peculiar "productive thinking" (Celaschi et al, 2020) to specific educational spheres (i.e., academies, universities, schools), but also to other forms of organizations, to produce impactful changes related to cognitive processes and artifacts. The second, how a non-hegemonic approach to design education could introduce new perspectives on future experiences, opening to a more collaborative, inclusive, transdisciplinary and collective learning system (Escobar, 2018;Bosco, Gasparotto & Formia, 2021;Boehnert, Sinclair & Dewberry, 2022;Noel, 2022;Formia, Gianfrate & Succini, 2023).…”