Gallery of Fine Arts at the Turn of the Millennium
Ing. arch. Pavel Šulc
 Motto: " (...) a building that will be a dignified partner to the collections. The building should subordinate itself to the works in the galleries, assert itself with dignity and sensitivity in public spaces, and provide logic and pleasure to the visitor’s journey. It requires an environment that relates to the original context, with lighting, scales, decor, and materials chosen so that the works look at home. Visual competition should be minimized. There must be many breaks for visual relief and reflection, as our aim is not to burden the viewer's body and overload their senses. Looking at art should be an intense experience."text of the building assignment for the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles (architect Richard Meier)
in Johl Walsh and Deborah Gribbon, The J. Paul Getty Museum and Its Collection. A museum for the New Century. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum 1997 Art galleries are very interesting buildings. They hide certain charisma and mystery, not only in the exhibited items but also in the building itself. Gallery institutions also play an irreplaceable role in cultural education, both in terms of educating the inhabitants of the surrounding region and, due to the universality of the language of visual art, as part of the regions' offerings to European cultural tourists. "In the cultural context of the European Union, an art museum is defined as an institution that significantly enhances the quality of life in a given place, contributes to its cultural offerings, and preserves the cultural literacy of its inhabitants."[1] Throughout history and in recent times, many galleries have been built in various architectural styles by different architects. It is possible to trace different approaches and experiences in the use and functioning of such spaces over the years. In Europe, art galleries are an integral part of urban space – both in terms of program presentation and the building itself, and people visit such institutions. The reality in the Czech Republic is somewhat different. However, as the situation slowly begins to improve and the first galleries start to make themselves known, the time for this text has come. [1] Public architectural competition for the design of the new building of the West Bohemian Gallery in Plzeň, Museum of Art of the 21st Century and its potential for the development of the Plzeň Region, Development Strategy 2009-2012. Alexandra Brabcová. 2009 site selectionThe selection of location is one of the most important criteria for the future gallery. The location determines the catchment area of interest and attendance at the institution. Architects usually do not have the opportunity to intervene in this decision. They most commonly enter the process at the moment the architectural competition is announced when the plot has already been selected and the brief is precisely defined.From the example of the extension project of the Tate Modern, the basic criteria important for evaluating the proposed locations are apparent. The then director of Tate, Nicholas Serota, formulated the requirements into the following points: location in the city center, large capacity of the site, good transport accessibility, potential for future expansion.[1] Architects Herzog and de Meuron significantly affected the urbanism of the surrounding area during the conversion of the former Mediodína power plant into the La Caixa Forum in Madrid. Avenue del arte represents an important axis of museum and gallery buildings in Madrid, and the architects established a small square after the removal of a gas station, thereby naturally connecting Caixa Forum to this thoroughfare. Many galleries are located in the centers of mostly historical cities (e.g., the CGAC by Alvaro Siza in the historic city of Santiago de Compostela. This location is favorable for many reasons. Historic centers are heavily visited by tourists, hence galleries benefit from this attention. Centers also have excellent pedestrian and public transport accessibility. The concentration of galleries leads to the creation of cultural centers, for example in Madrid (including the Caixa Forum building by Herzog and de Meuron, or "Museuminsel" in Berlin (including CFA - Contemporary Fine Arts center by architect David Chipperfield). The disadvantage of this strategy is that historic centers already have plenty of attractive attractions and new galleries could offer their urban energy in the development of underdeveloped or declining parts of cities. The advantage of decentralization is also the price of land, which is significantly lower in unappealing locations than in historic centers. The city itself is often the initiator of such projects. Northern Spanish Bilbao went through a heavy industry crisis in the 1980s, and the new Guggenheim Museum significantly helped in finding a new identity for the city. London’s Tate Modern helped in the reconstruction of the industrial district of Bankside into a modern multifunctional part of the city. Many galleries find their plots on so-called "brown fields" - locations of former industrial districts. Old industrial complexes today leave city center locations due to strict hygiene standards, heritage protection, and the inability for capacity development, moving to newly constructed industrial zones. Industrial objects, often designated as heritage-protected buildings, are available for conversion (Caixa Forum in Madrid, Tate Modern in London). Small art galleries, or minimally serving small auditoriums within universities, are now a natural part of university campuses. Curators teach the younger generation a natural relationship with art. A European example of such a building is the Museo Universitario de Alicante (MUA) in Spain by architect Alfredo Payá. An example of a gallery in a natural setting is Märkli's La Congiunta, located in a vineyard in the historic Swiss town of Giornico. Real estate agent Karl-Heinrich Müller commissioned the construction of an extensive complex serving artists and art in a forest park near the small town of Neuss-Holzheim at the German-Dutch border. Gallery in the town of Appenzell near Davos by architects Annette Gigon and Mike Guyer is an example of buildings constructed in honor of artists working in the area. The buildings provide space for exhibiting art directly related to its place of origin. The buildings are financed by a foundation established for this purpose, supported by the city and collectors, who often donate parts of their collections to the foundation. In parallel to galleries built in honor of local artists, there are galleries established directly by artists as their life legacy. An example is the Centro de Arte y Naturaleza in northern Spain on the outskirts of the historic city of Huesca, founded by painter Jose Beluas and architect Rafael Moneo. The Czech White Gallery in Osík near Litomyšl was built as a tribute to painter Ludmila Jandová. The construction of galleries represents a special typology in the urbanism of the settlement. Regardless of how they are placed in the cultural landscape, they always form its focus. the power of architectureThe architecture of the gallery can be dangerous in relation to the exhibited items. There are examples of buildings that attract visitors more with their expressiveness than the art displayed in them, and in the worst case architecture competes with the exhibited items in the exhibition halls. However, research establishing precise criteria for measuring the quality of gallery space does not yet exist.Many gallerists intentionally use iconic architectures of galleries to attract a larger number of visitors (e.g., the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation with its buildings in New York by F. L. Wright from 1959 and Bilbao by Frank O. Gehry from 1997). The ideal state is when the architecture of the gallery is maximally friendly not only to the art exhibited within it but also to the visitor. In a quality exhibition hall, the most important aspect is the exhibited art!!! Architecture conveys the impression of the exhibited work. Miroslav Masák in his publication Construction Task: Gallery raises the question of excessive institutionality of the gallery building. "Many potential visitors may be deterred from visiting a cultural institution by the architecture itself, embodying an image of the gallery as an elite institution to which they do not feel they belong. Thus, a crucial question arises. How to design a building that will express a certain exceptionalism of the items it exhibits in its architecture while simultaneously not deterring potential visitors with excessive institutionality."[2] The director of the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny, Mrs. Štefančíková, in her reflection The Nature of Ownership in Art & antiques magazine defends the institution's exceptional nature and criticizes the effort to attract "the widest possible public" to exhibitions, the desire "to please the masses." Mrs. Štefančíková further states: "And when we manage to cleverly market and attract the masses, who and what does it really benefit? The masses? A visitor who is uninterested in the exhibition will come only for a substitute bait. If he does not find what he expected, his attention typically turns into aggression, criticism of the unknown, the misunderstood, the demanding. This spreads negative references that deter even those visitors who have the potential to become an exclusive group, art-accepting. Logically, it follows that it may be wiser to stay within certain quality positions and not pander. Interest may not be mass, but it will be lasting. As is known, maintaining lasting mass interest while preserving dramaturgy that does not operate with the psychology of advertising is impossible. Let us therefore allow cultural institutions and their experts to retain the spirit and integrity of scholars, and do not pressure them to be trendy. Only in this way can we preserve the possibility of visiting places where we obtain verified historical information, experience the pleasure of beauty, and uplift our spirit from the conveyed message. Places we can take our children to teach them to understand and appreciate the power and beauty of ideas, not just to care about what and how they can utilize it."[3] layoutGalleries are buildings designed for exhibiting works of art. The main space is a quality exhibition hall. There are buildings that suffice with this - for example, the gallery of Swiss sculptor Hans Josephsohn by Peter Märkli, consisting of only three main and three auxiliary exhibition halls. However, this gallery is an exception. Typically, galleries have, in addition to exhibition halls, various other spaces providing facilities for visitors, employees, and collections. The extent of these spaces is determined by the investor's (founder's) brief.Galleries can be either single-space of different floor plans (e.g., CDAN in Huesca, White Gallery in Osík near Litomyšl, or more commonly a series of multiple exhibition halls arranged horizontally (MUSAC in León, Museum Liner Appenzell) or vertically (Museo Guggenheim Bilbao). The quality of exhibition spaces is an important parameter in assessing the quality of the gallery (exhibition spaces - typically have a character similar to exhibition spaces and are intended for long-term exhibitions). As Ladislav Kesner says: A gallery is a building, an architectural work, but primarily a space for looking.[5] After long discussions with artists, it is evident that there is no exhibition hall that meets everyone's needs. Just as artistic creation is absolutely individual and subjective, so too is the perception of different exhibition halls extremely subjective, and the opinions of the artists are often completely conflicting. However, it holds true that the more distinctive and stronger the architecture of the gallery exhibition space, the more the artist and curator must work with the space and take it as a partner to the exhibited art (e.g., the Benedikt Rejt Gallery in Louny). Some artists consider this aspect an advantage, while others see it as a significant disadvantage. The most supporters seek the most universal, simple, orthogonal, white-painted space with top diffuse natural lighting, complemented by both diffuse and spotlight artificial lighting. This is the most appropriate space for the widest range of visual arts as it varies in size, number of exhibits, their dimensions and material composition, and climatic requirements).
Not only is it necessary to account for the connection to the electrical network for contemporary art, but also for additional data distribution throughout the exhibition hall. In gallery practice, it has proven effective to run technical installations in a continuous channel along all walls (e.g., MUSAC in León, or the Benedikt Rejt gallery in Louny).
acousticsAcoustic requirements for gallery buildings lead to the elimination of acoustically disturbing influences from the external and internal environments of the building. The external influence is the noise of the surrounding environment (especially traffic) transmitted by the outer structures into the interior. The unwanted effects of this noise must be accounted for already in the site selection phase or later through the choice of an acoustically resilient building envelope. The internal acoustics of the building are primarily influenced by appropriately chosen structures and especially the materials of surface constructions. The source of unwanted noise in gallery buildings is predominantly its users - visitors. By using sound-absorbing structures and materials that do not transmit footstep noise, it is possible to eliminate these undesirable manifestations.An acoustically quality environment must also be built in audiovisual halls - here the focus is primarily on controlling the reverberation time. materialsThe chosen materials support the architectural effect of the building. Art galleries are subconsciously classified as "sacred buildings of the present" and just like sacred buildings, emphasis is placed on precise processing of quality materials and their details – durable materials that show favorable effects of "patination." "Details make the building" is a general truth... poorly executed details often lead to premature aging of constructions and thus a bad impression of the building itself. An exception is the intention of architect Kroupa at the DOX Center in Prague’s Holešovice, where they aimed for a "JZD detail".Even though the "mix" of external and internal materials corresponds to the nature of the building, inside the exhibition halls, a similar scheme often repeats: ceiling - mostly white, or matte glass in case of illumination, system for mounting spotlights on tracks. floor - easy to maintain, acoustically dampening footstep noise - screed, terrazzo, most often wood walls - most often plaster with white paint - easy modification after the exhibition, occasionally exposed concrete, or refined plasters colors - in most examined buildings, the minimalist tendency to showcase materials in their natural form predominates. For instance, in the MUSAC gallery, a prominent color of the outer shell was used as an icon of the building. The interior of exhibition halls tends to be colorfully restrained - prepared to let the artistic installation dominate. [1] Raymand, Rowan Moore and Ryan. 2000. Building Tate Modern. London: Tate Gallery Publishing, 2000. [2] Construction Task: Gallery. Masák, Miroslav. 1999. Brno: Faculty of Architecture, VUT Brno, 1999. p. 17 [3] Štefančíková Alice. The Nature of Ownership - Art & antiques, Prague. 5/2008, p. 6 [4] Masák, Miroslav. Construction Task: Gallery. 1999. Brno: Faculty of Architecture, VUT Brno, 1999. p. 20 [5] Kesner, Ladislav. 2000. Museum of Art in the Digital Age. Prague: Argo and the National Gallery in Prague, 2000. Climatic parameters are chosen as a compromise between the optimal climate required by conservators of art collections and conditions favorable to visitors. It is important that climatic conditions remain constant throughout the exhibition, without significant fluctuations, which is continuously monitored. Relative humidity of the air is recommended to be maintained at 50% with maximum fluctuations of +- 5%. Especially on rainy days, it is very difficult to keep relative humidity at a constant level. During this period, care must be taken to separate wet coats in cloakrooms, or limit the number of visitors. The same problem can arise from the differing average humidity in summer and winter months. Fluctuations can be mitigated by installing devices regulating humidity levels. Temperature in the exhibition hall should be between 18-22°C. In summer months, high outside temperatures require adjustment of these values, as entering from an over-heated outdoor environment would make visitors feel cold and thus limit their ability to perceive art. When designing a gallery, it is necessary to consider energy efficiency from the very beginning. Experience from gallery institutions indicates that the operation of central air conditioning units is financially demanding, being utilized only about 25%. To maintain an optimal indoor climate, it is more appropriate to use the natural accumulation properties of building constructions, supplemented by large-scale heating and cooling systems, and tempering exterior walls using low-potential heat and high-potential cooling. Protection of items stored in galleries and museums is governed by European legislation under the standard ČSNEN 15757 (961504) Protection of Cultural Heritage. Requirements for temperature and relative humidity are in place to prevent mechanical damage to organic hygroscopic materials occurring due to the climate. Another parameter is "The Requirements of Current European Protocols for Exhibition Loans." Light is one of the most important criteria for assessing the quality of a gallery. Well-chosen lighting facilitates the perception of both the space and the artwork. The human eye is very adaptable. An exhibition can be tuned to low lighting values, but also intentionally over-illuminate. The human eye gradually adapts to these values. If temporarily exposed to higher lighting intensity (e.g., when moving from one exhibition room into another brightly lit corridor), a few minutes of adaptation are needed. Frequent switching of lighting intensity can lead to fatigue, followed by a loss of attention. For this reason, it is advisable to work with similar lighting levels. Too frequent switching of contrasts can lead to eye fatigue, while exposure without contrasts seems monotonous, unfinished - light can be used as an interesting scenographic element. Even the orientation of the building can help with the correct lighting of exhibition halls and remaining spaces. Windows and skylights ideally open towards the north diffuse light. The entrance hall can have livelier light, so it is possible to orient these spaces towards sunny sides. However, it is always necessary to consider the danger of excessive overheating in summer months (passive solar gains) and prevent it, preferably with external shading systems. In terms of protecting the exhibited item, it is essential to enable regulation of lighting intensity to limit values for the exhibited item's illuminance and to filter unfavorable UV and IR components. Three groups of materials allow for different lighting values. For particularly sensitive materials, time limits for exhibition, or displaying them in specially protected vitrines is often implemented. In selected galleries, the so-called dynamic lighting is introduced. This is a specific type of lighting where exhibited items are illuminated with basic diffused light, while targeted lighting is automatically turned on when a visitor enters and remains only during their presence. This lighting method benefits items sensitive to light. Another possibility offered by dynamic lighting is the gradual response of its intensity to external light conditions. There are three types of lighting for gallery spaces: - natural lighting - artificial lighting - a combination of the previous two methods Natural lighting enters the exhibition space through skylights and windows, occasionally light tubes. The exhibition space naturally changes in response to the current weather, so each visit offers a different artistic experience. Here too, the requirements of artists vary. The popularity of a variable mood of the exhibition space is evidenced by the fact that in Zumthor’s Kunsthaus in Bregenz, 90% of realized exhibitions occurred with artificial lighting. In contrast, the statement of artist and professor at the Academy of Art in Prague, Jiří Příhoda: "The best Kupka exhibition I saw was in Rudolfinum. I went there before closing time, there was late afternoon light, which radiated and Kupka shone there. Light is a definitive criterion for me in the exhibition space." Natural lighting from skylights represents the most classic and undoubtedly the highest quality way of lighting exhibition halls. Light penetrates the halls through vertical or slightly sloped glass roof sections, ideally oriented northward. This orientation prevents excessive brightness and overheating of exhibition spaces by intense sunlight. In its most basic form, this lighting is implemented in La Congiunta gallery (without an artificial lighting component) or Museo Liner. Sophisticated skylight lighting systems are implemented in, for example, Kunstmuseum Lichtenstein in Vaduz, Kirchner Museum in Davos, or Kunsthaus in Bregenz. In these buildings, between the outer glazing of the skylight and the inner horizontal ceiling of the exhibition hall, there is a sophisticated system for regulating light intensity using blinds. In the absence of natural lighting, the exhibition space may be supplemented by fixtures also placed in the skylights' intermediate space. Windows represent a natural way of illuminating rooms and also provide a natural contact with the surroundings, which visitors perceive positively. Especially sculptures gain spatial depth from side light. On the other hand, a surplus of windows detracts from the gallery's white walls - the exhibition space, and windows improperly oriented towards the cardinal directions cause undesirable brightness and overheating of exhibition spaces. In the DOX center in Prague's Holešovice, part of the windows was shortly after opening covered with gypsum board to address these issues. Galleries illuminated solely by artificial lighting respond to the specific needs of artists and clients regarding the anticipated composition of exhibited art. An advantage of this method of lighting is that properly designed artificial light at every place in the exhibition hall at any time of day provides precisely defined illumination values. For certain types of art, such as scenic installations, video art, or exhibits sensitive to lighting, these properties are desirable. Among the disadvantages of this method of lighting halls are the danger of thermal radiation from fixtures, energy intensity, and the perceived loss of naturalness. Some artists are convinced of the irreplaceability of natural lighting. The first two disadvantages - thermal gains and energy intensity - are gradually being eliminated with the advent of LED lighting. A fundamental criterion for the quality of artificial lighting is color rendering accuracy. The minimum value of the color rendering index, i.e., Ra > 95. Currently used manufacturing technologies for LEDs have a very pronounced dependence of the specific performance on the color rendering index, also the chromaticity temperature. For several years now, LED lighting of exhibition vitrines has been successfully used. This can either be focused directional lighting or linear sources for area lighting. Among the most used fixtures in museums and galleries are directional fixtures mounted on power tracks. Over the last two years, some leading manufacturers have included LED fixtures in their assortment to replace fixtures with halogen bulbs. For artificial lighting, the following values are monitored: spectral composition of light, color properties, specific performance, luminous flux of fixtures, beam luminous flux, beam efficiency, specific performance of the beam, and source lifespan.
The mentioned technical parameters and the stated conclusions correspond to the technical parameters of contemporary LEDs. Given the rapid development in this area, the only certainty is that most of the listed parameters will no longer be current next year.[6] An example of a newly built gallery that relies solely on artificial lighting is the Caixa Forum gallery in Madrid. In the case of reconstructed buildings, it is the Berlin Penthouse Boros Gallery. If the technical solution of the building does not allow for the regulation of incoming daylight, there is a risk that the operator may decide on a permanent removal of the natural daylight component, as happened at the CGAC center in Santiago de Compostela. The combination of natural and artificial lighting represents the most common method of lighting exhibition halls. It brings together the properties of both aforementioned lighting methods. Moreover, artificial lighting allows the gallery to operate in the afternoon hours of winter months or during poor lighting conditions. An example of the approach to this type of lighting of exhibition halls is the competition assignment for the new building of the West Bohemian Gallery in Plzeň: "In terms of lighting exhibition and display halls, a combination of natural and artificial light appears to be the most suitable, taking into account the nature of the materials. The use of natural light is intended more with respect to the visitor, which should have a refreshing influence on them and provide interesting views of the surroundings. However, it should not hinder the perception of the exhibited works."[3]
This text represents a part of a work dealing with European art galleries developed based on a grant by the Higher Education Development Fund and was further elaborated in a dissertation at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University. The English translation is powered by AI tool. Switch to Czech to view the original text source.
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