The Museum as Destination: The Role of Iconic Museums in Urban Boosterism
The Museum as Destination: The Role of Iconic Museums in Urban Boosterism
Author: Dorte Skot-Hansen (University of Copenhagen)
Year: 2018
Source type: article
Raw file: raw/articles/skot-hansen-2018-museum-as-destination.md
Summary
Skot-Hansen analyzes how iconic museums function as instruments of city marketing and corporate branding — "urban boosterism." She distinguishes two strategies: experiencescapes (O'Dell: spaces in which experiences are staged and consumed; Los Angeles, where the question is whether the Getty is "an antidote to Hollywood hype or if it adds to it") and brandscapes (Klingmann: cities using architecture to attract capital; Paris, from the presidential "Grand Projets" to the corporate branding of Fondation Louis Vuitton). She concludes that even where the "enlightenment theme" is toned down, "there is still a more traditional 'museum mission' behind the iconic façades."
Key Claims
- Iconic museums and urban boosterism: under globalization/post-industrialization, cities are "increasingly planned and designed to attract tourists, residents and businesses"; in the "experience economy" (Pine & Gilmore), museums serve "urban boosterism." Following Sklair, the "most common rationale for deliberately created iconic architecture" is boosterism — "to draw tourists, convention, and mega-event attendees with money to spend."
- Experiencescapes vs brandscapes: O'Dell's experiencescape — a "commercial streamlining of cities … into lifestyle environments" staging and consuming experiences; Klingmann's brandscape — cities "positioning themselves favourably in the worldwide marketplace in order to attract capital," architecture "as a commodity keyed to the realities of global capitalism."
- Los Angeles — an experiencescape: the Getty Center (Richard Meier, 1997) — "a pristine fortified city of its own," a "modern Acropolis" — and the Hollywood/Disneyland culture; question of enlightenment vs "going for the ride"; Baudrillard's critique of the export of European high culture.
- Paris — a brandscape: the presidential "Grand Projets" (Pompidou, Musée d'Orsay, Grand Louvre/Pei pyramid, Quai Branly) sustaining Paris's global image; the corporate Fondation Louis Vuitton (Gehry) as "architecture as brand" — "a coalition of brands, of LV and Frank," a "hired signature" — museum visits boosting the LV brand.
- Experience or enlightenment? "Has the enlightenment rationale yielded to an economic rationality?" The spectacular museums' architecture "makes no explicit reference to an enlightenment purpose," yet each retains a "traditional 'museum mission' behind the iconic façades" — "the idea of 'museum' as such has not been lost. It has rather found a new and spectacular packaging."
Connections
Concepts: Iconic Architecture · Star Architecture · Consumerism · Spectacle · Neoliberal Metropolis Authors: Dorte Skot-Hansen · Frank Gehry · Leslie Sklair Debates: Spectacle vs. Function Related source notes: The Museum as destination — see also Lorente · Creating the Bilbao Effect
Direct Quotes
"[T]hose driving urban boosterism deliberately attempt to create urban boosterism in icons to draw tourists, convention, and mega-event attendees with money to spend, and the images they project are directed to this end." (Sklair, as quoted)
"[I]t is a coalition of brands, of LV and Frank … The question with this project is which Gehry, the serious architect or the hired signature, wins." (Rowan Moore, as quoted)
"Even if the enlightenment theme has been toned down … there is still a more traditional 'museum mission' behind the iconic façades."
Open Questions
- Does the "museum mission behind the iconic façade" genuinely survive boosterism and corporate branding, or is it a residual alibi within an economy of spectacle and brand extension (cf. Luther/Kaika, Nowicka-Wright)?
