EXPLORIUM

ID 274 1

Veronica Polinedrio

Parahita Rachmani

Shannon Senderling

Sara Watson

EXPLORIUM

Explorium
is a children’s museum located in Victorian Square, Lexington,
KY. Hands-on learning is used to stimulate curiosity in the children.
While most normal museums are geared towards an older age group,
Explorium focuses on the children making it a great destination for
family outings, and birthday parties. Children’s museums are
the fastest growing museums in the country. The museum has been open
in its current location since 1990. The focus of our analysis was to
see if how the design of the space affects how visitors occupy and
behave inside. We focused on the preferential, behavioral,
compositional, symbolic and pragmatic aspects of the space. Within
these categories, we looked at how the elements and principles are
used to achieve these goals.

Preferential

Since
the main users of the space are children, organic lines are used in
most rooms to make the space more playful and relate to the exhibits.
For instance, the curvy lines of the wall and simulated river feature
in the river zone emulate the organic line qualities of a river as
well as the flow of the streams. A curved glass wall that encloses
the river zone follows the path of the river. Across the glass wall,
an admission desk is also curvilinear and balances out the space. In
addition, fluorescent lighting fixtures is set in a curvilinear path,
which echo the shape of the glass wall. Meanwhile, in the Horse
exhibit, the curvy entrance gate echoes a horseshoe.

All
colors on the color wheel are represented in the space since children
are drawn bright colors. Each exhibit has its own color-scheme to
define it. For example, the Bubble Zone uses a cool color-scheme,
incorporating light blue, purple, grey, and so on to relate to water.
The Horse Exhibit uses earthy colors, such as brown and green, since
horses live outside in nature.

Shapes
are used according to each exhibit. For instance, signage in the
Bubble Room is round to relate to the shape of a bubble. The floor
pattern in the River Zone echoes the organic shape of the river.

Scale
is used to create unity and make the space more user-friendly,
especially for the children. All exhibits are geared towards small
human beings. For instance, furniture, houses, and even the
brochure/information stand are miniature in scale. In addition, the
Wonder Woods Zone, is even smaller in scale since it is used by
toddlers. However, some features are made larger-than-life to make
the space more playful as well as make it easier for children to
learn, such as the giant mouth and giant brain.

Materials
are geared towards the safety of the users, mainly children. Children
are active; hence, carpet is used for flooring because it is
slip-resistant. Features in exhibits are made of plastics and plywood
because they are durable and easy to clean. In addition, acrylic is
used instead of glass to showcase fragile displays, such as the giant
dinosaur skulls. Acrylic is also used to give a boundary in the
Wonder Woods area so that parents can watch their toddlers play.

The
space has asymmetrical balance because it is less formal and more
playful. Features in all exhibits are arranged asymmetrically and
some zones that have neutral color-scheme are balanced out by
accented color, such as in the Native American zone.

Unity
is created by repetition of color, scale, shapes, and line quality.
In addition, purple as the brand color, is used on the existing
walls, directions, signage, doors, and so on to unify the space.

Behavioral

The
space is designed to accommodate its generally active users, which
allows them to act naturally and be less formal.

Large circulation space is beneficial for active children and parents
standing and watching them. The Bubble Zone and the What’s New
Zone in particular, have a lot more circulation space than any other
zones. The What’s New Zone a place where new exhibits rotate or
new events are held, such as the Building Blocks. These events
usually attract a lot of visitors; therefore, a larger space with
free circulation will accommodate these activities.

In order to control the circulation, traffic patterns are defined by
panel sections that divide each zone. This allows more free, yet
controlled movement in the space. These panel sections as well as
directions create linear rhythm through movement of the visitors.

Directions on the wall, signage, or even paintings also facilitate
movement. For example, the Bubble Room has painted fish on the wall
that face one direction that move the visitors through the room.
Accent lighting is also used to direct users into each zone and
emphasize the exhibits.

In addition, bright lighting is delivered by the skylight on the
second floor and the general track lighting, which allows for more
loud communication. It is needed because children are naturally loud
and parents are often trying to keep track of their kids by yelling.

Scale affects the behavior of the users, especially children.
Large-scale features, such as the giant brain, help children to learn
better. Meanwhile, the smaller scale furniture allows children to
interact better with features in each exhibit and parents need to get
down on the same level as their children to be able to interact with
them. The company provides steps to some of the human-scale features
to help children interact, such as the sink in the Bubble Zone and
the River feature in the River Zone. Some features, such as the
horses in the Horse Zone, are built in life-size scale without steps
because children need adult supervision while interacting in the
activity.

In terms of color palette, bright color-scheme creates more
excitement and relaxed environment for the children. The colorful
palette creates a less serious space; hence it encourages learning to
occur.

Compositional

The company occupies two floor levels to let the visitors make the
most of their experience of exploration. In order to allow visitors
to easily view the exhibits, most displays and features are placed
along the panels or walls. For instance, the River feature in the
river zone is placed along the painted, curved wall.

The ceiling is exposed and painted black so that the space feels more
open but it does not take the emphasis away from the features. The
use of track lighting adds to the openness in the space. There are
some geometric and organic pattern on the floor for defining space,
such in the Native American and River Zone; however, the flooring, is
generally solid and does not have pattern to balances out the
busyness of the features and the colorful palette.

The existing building is human scale; however, the features in the
exhibits are mostly constructed in miniature-scale to accommodate
children. Some larger-than-life features, such as the giant mouth and
the Dinosaur skulls bring contrast and asymmetrical balance into the
space. Most sections are about 8’ X 8’ space geared
towards a specific educational activity. However, the Bubble Room and
the What’s New Room are larger compared to the other zones.

Overall, the two-dimensional floor plan relates to the
three-dimensional space. Souvenir stands are placed along the
entrance path to save space and bring more circulation for entry and
exit. In addition, paintings on the wall relate to the subject in
each exhibit. For instance, the wall of the Bubble Room is painted
with fish and the panel in the Dinosaur zone is painted with rock
pattern. However, some certain corners are empty and do not relate
to the adjacent space.

Symbolic

The space represents the company’s target users, which are
children. Bright color-schemes, curvy shapes of the features, and so
on, are dedicated to entertain children as well as their parents. As
far as entrance, visitors are directed to the reception desk through
the curved wall and pathway. However, visitors must walk through
souvenir stands upon arriving at the reception desk.

The use of all colors on the color wheel identifies that children use
the space. However, purple seems to be the brand color that unifies
all the color together and bring harmony into the space. Purple is
used on the Explorium brand or logo, main walls, restroom halls, exit
doors, signage, directions, floor tiles in the birthday and art
studio room, and even the company’s mission statement on the
wall. In addition, children music is played in the reception desk
area.

Pragmatic

In relation to the rectilinear shape of the existing building, most
partitions that divide the space into different zones are
rectilinear, especially on the second floor. Rectilinear lines divide
and define the space without taking up too much room for circulation.
This also creates contrast with some of the curvilinear features in
the space. To bring more interest and variety to the space, diagonal
lines are used for the layout of some areas, such as the Dinosaur,
Native American, and the Earth and Science Exhibits. The hallway in
front of the entrance door is straight and leads visitors directly to
the space and emphasizes the signage on the door.

Sufficient lighting from the skylight and track lighting fixture
helps visitors read better in terms of displays, educational
information and activities, as well as directions and signage.
Spotlight becomes accent lighting that emphasizes displays,
educational stories, and the activity itself in each zone.

In terms of acoustic, carpet flooring absorb some noise produced in
the space; however, carpet the space can still be loud depending on
the amount of users occupying the area at one time.

Hygiene and safety also become concerns in this type of place, since
children tend to touch everything. In order to solve this, hand
sanitizer dispensers are mounted on the walls. Exit signs, fire
extinguishers, and a panic hardware are installed to accommodate
users during emergency. Rubber mats are placed in the Bubble Zone to
prevent visitors from slipping.

In
conclusion, many of the categories provide the necessary elements
that represent the company’s goals, concepts, and fit its
target users. However, there are always some aspects that can be
improved. First, redesigning the bathrooms to fit with the rest of
the composition in the space will bring more unity and harmony into
the space. The restrooms are plain since they are a part of the
existing building and were already in place when Explorium was
constructed. The only connection to the space is their purple doors.
Some ideas about how to do this would be to make some of the
restrooms specifically for children. Fun themes and making the
facilities the right scale will be a better solution. Steps in front
of the sink should also be placed to benefit children. A family
restroom can be a good solution to consider as well. A lounge area
nearby will also provide a calm haven from the activity of the
museum.

Another
change would be to adjust the some of the souvenir stands along the
entrance of the museum. The displays are currently placed on both
sides of the entrance from the inside of Victorian Square. The
displays in front of the curved, glass wall need a more designated
space, because they block the architectural feature of the first
floor and take the emphasis away from the activity behind the glass
wall.

Some
features that are not ADA-compliant become a main issue of the space.
Except for the elevator in the existing building, there is no any
elevator in the museum space, which limits physically handicapped
users to go inside the museum or to move to the second floor. Some of
the most interesting zones are located on the second floor, such as
the Bubble Zone. In addition, some features and pathway do not have
enough space for a wheelchair to move around. Some circulation spaces
are less than 3-feet wide. For example, the pathway along the River
Zone is pretty narrow. Some of the features on the first floor would
be particularly hard to use. The river feature is on solid mass;
therefore, a person in a wheelchair would not be able to get close
enough to interact. The ADA issues really need to be addressed to
improve the space.