The Visitor’s Journey: How Gallery Interiors Shape the Art Exhibition Experience
The Evolution of Exhibition Spaces: Transforming Galleries into Narrative Mediums
The evolution of exhibition spaces has transformed galleries into narrative mediums, presenting new challenges for designers and curators alike. In this article, we explore how design thinking tools and user experience (UX)-inspired approaches aid in creating engaging and comprehensible exhibition narratives. We consider how to enhance the educational value of exhibitions while empathetically reducing viewers’ cognitive effort through diverse arrangements and varying degrees of descriptive complexity.
How Have Exhibitions Changed? From Classical Galleries to the Distributed Museum
An art exhibition is a form of essay, unfolding in space and time. Over centuries, gallery interiors have evolved from simple corridors adorned with beautiful objects to open, interactive spaces of modern museums. Today, an exhibition is more than a mere display—it is a narrative, with diverse ways for audiences to experience and engage, leaving room for individual choice. Visitors decide whether to actively explore or assume the role of passive observers.
The gallery as a public space is an invention of antiquity. These venues, offering shelter from the elements, served as places for meetings and discussions of business. The basilica-like design of such structures encouraged strolling along the gallery’s long axes.
In the Renaissance, galleries became integral parts of representative buildings. Functional corridors used for communication were also adapted for leisurely walks. In this context, artworks displayed within—sculptures, paintings, or tapestries—naturally enriched the interior architecture, serving as areas for collection presentation and entertainment.
The French Revolution permanently shifted the paradigm of art accessibility. Exclusive palace interiors, like the Louvre, were transformed into public museums. The long corridors of such residences supported Enlightenment-era narratives, structuring exhibitions in logical, chronological, or thematic orders.
The 20th century reversed this scheme, offering flexible spaces that imposed no specific way of structuring an exhibition’s narrative. Buildings like the Neues Museum in Berlin or the Pompidou Center in Paris introduced open plans, allowing for the creation of zones, partition walls, display furniture, and other elements to shape the visitor’s path.
A further paradigm shift is the contemporary concept of the “distributed museum,” which extends art beyond the walls of traditional institutions. This allows works to appear in public spaces like parks, shopping centers, or subway stations, as well as in digital realms. Art becomes part of everyday life, breaking down the barriers of exclusivity. Cultural theorist Mark Fisher observed that this approach enables alternative ways of experiencing art, beyond the frameworks of capitalist realism. A museum need not be a physical place—it can be an experience. Online exhibitions, mobile apps, and community-engaging projects represent the future, reshaping how we think about presenting art.
The Shape of Space – How It Influences Narrative
Corridor-like, enfilade interiors familiar from historic institutions promote linear narratives and typological divisions. Such layouts encourage storytelling along a defined axis, where ideas can be supported or refuted. A corridor interior resembles a film reel, set into motion by the viewer moving through the gallery.
An open interior is an ergodic, performative space requiring a curatorial concept reconciled with the viewer’s desire for free exploration. In an open plan, sections of the exhibition may overlap, layers of meaning can merge, and the overall message emerges organically, supported by both formal and thematic design solutions.
Open Space – A Challenge for Designers
Open museum interiors demand a new approach to exhibition design. Traditional linear arrangements give way to narratives that can be discovered and interpreted in multiple ways. The advantage of open spaces lies in their creative freedom, but they also present challenges: where to start when there are no boundaries? How to create a structure that organizes the space and facilitates content reception?
When no restrictions are given, they must be self-imposed to provide a foundation for the project. A good starting point is to ask a few key questions:
- What elements of the exhibition script will serve as organizing principles guiding visitors through the space?
- How can we segment the exhibition to enhance its educational value and manage viewer focus?
- How can we address acoustic challenges within the space?
How to Maintain Viewer Attention?
Despite being within an exhibition space, visitors must navigate competing distractions from personal concerns and digital communications. When designing exhibitions, we must anticipate fluctuating and dispersed viewer attention. Dividing content into modules—short segments that allow quick re-engagement—can help visitors maintain focus.
One way to achieve this is by structuring exhibitions into distinct sections with clear differentiation. Wall colors, varied lighting, diverse display methods, or floor markings can help visitors orient themselves within the space. Formal diversity in the arrangement—from intimate displays to monumental installations—helps sustain interest.
Acoustic considerations are another challenge in open interiors. In large halls, multimedia work soundtracks can overlap, so exhibition architecture should include audio zones created with small architectural elements that also contribute to visual storytelling.
Exhibitions are also sources of factual information. To manage viewer attention effectively, it’s good practice to present information in varying levels of complexity. Introducing brief descriptions as an introduction, detailed analyses for inquisitive visitors, and additional “footnotes” for enthusiasts allows audiences to decide their level of engagement. Crucially, even a cursory look at selected elements should provide an understanding of the main narrative idea.
Conclusion
Design is a discipline that unites artistic values with functional practicality. Addressing challenges philosophically opens new avenues of thought and sets tasks that can be methodically solved using design thinking tools, universally applicable across all creative endeavors.
Thoughtful exhibition space design helps audiences grasp the curator’s or artist’s intent without imposing unnecessary cognitive challenges. The key lies in crafting a narrative that guides without dictating, supports without being pedantic. Empathy for viewers’ needs and circumstances, as well as an understanding of the opportunities and limitations inherent in the gallery experience, is essential.
An exhibition is not just a display—it is a medium unfolding in space and time. Modern museums should harness the full potential of this medium to create rewarding viewer experiences. By doing so, museums and galleries can transcend being mere “temples” and become partners and mediators in the dialogue between the viewer and the artist.
Paulina Tyro-Niezgoda
This text summarizes a webinar from the “Praktyki Twórcze” series organized by the Wrocław Institute of Culture.