The New Museum – Transforming the Way We Think About Museums
The new Canada Science and Technology Museum will be designed for change. Located in the National Capital Region, the Museum will function much like a theatre, with its stage, sets, lights, grid and other built-in systems allowing for a relatively economical change from act to act and from play to play. Exhibition and program renewal and change will be less costly, allowing the Museum to stay in touch by responding more quickly to new interests, stories and opportunities.
This innovative design of the building and facilities will provide a flexible, changing environment and programming. The intention is to reduce the cost of ongoing change sufficiently that routine modifications can be made within the operating budget, without the need for major capital infusions or structural changes.
The exhibitions and the collection will be placed in the forefront, rather than the architecture. The intent is not to spend excessive funds to create an architectural monument, but to make a lasting impression of the impact of science and technology on visitors of all ages. The building will be contemporary, elegant and flexible, and its value will be in the systems that will allow the Museum to showcase changing and relevant Canadian developments in science and technology.
Visitors, community partners and sponsors are integral to the vision of transformation, and will be central to the further development of the Museum's learning spaces and programs.
The Museum will partner with innovative companies on the leading edge of science and technology, providing a showcase for companies whose products and services are transforming the way Canadians work, play and live. ‘Living exhibits’ will demonstrate sustainable building technologies at work.
The exhibition halls will be divided into learning spaces – theme galleries, theatres, discovery centres and other program zones – many of which will use built-in facilities to allow for change in content, even user-requested content. This approach will enable the galleries to show a range of different exhibitions or scenarios with a reduced need for large investments of time and money. The learning spaces will be full of open-ended experiences allowing users to shape each visit.
Temporary exhibition halls will contain travelling exhibitions from Associate Members and other institutions and independent producers, providing a showcase in the National Capital Region for stories of innovation from across Canada. These multi-purpose halls will be fully programmable and convertible into immersion environments involving light, sound, projections, moveable walls, and other features with an objective of teaching skills and an understanding of the process of discovery and critical analysis.
There will be areas for skilled interpreters to demonstrate past technical skills – printing, glass blowing, hand wood working – that visitors can learn and turn into hobbies or craft based businesses. Transformer Kids will mirror the themes of other galleries, with a focus on activities for younger audiences.
The building design will permit simultaneous functions. For example, organizations might rent an exhibition hall for an awards ceremony, a classroom for an evening course, a theatre for interactive training sessions, or the boardroom for meetings. To meet client needs, catering services would be available for all functions.
