02/16, BEHAVIORAL, Veronica Polinedrio

VATICAN MUSEUMS

The Vatican and the Vatican Museums are one of the most visited locations in Rome throughout the year, both by local and foreign tourists.
It counts over one hundred rooms in which the papal collections have been placed over the centuries.

Upon entering, visitors are walked upstairs in a tall, round room where they are lined up and moved into the next room. The entire museum works this way – royal red cords define the walking paths that visitors must take while admiring the beautiful pieces in the galleries This is meant to keep the massive crowds moving at a regular pace and to keep visitors at a fair distance from the art works.

Hallways are ‘one-way’, only allowing visitors to walk in the same direction. These corridors usually take into big famous galleries, and they are also fairly long - minor works are typically located along them moving people easily and fast through them.

The rooms are imposing - not only are they wide, but also really tall. Some of them are over thirty feet high encouraging people to look up and observe the frescoes.

Additionally the lighting used in the space, both natural coming through the windows and artificial, emphasizes specific works and makes people walk toward and look at them. Track lighting, added recently, is particularly important in helping visitors look up and observe the richly decorated ceilings of the galleries. If the designer had not use such device, such works would have been partially ignored – lighting here is able to recall people’s attention and make them aware of what is on top of them.

In the space, people are extremely controlled and their behavior needs to be accustomed to the character of the place. As part of the papal state, the Vatican Museums require people to behave respectfully and politely – communication must be soft, and visitors in some spaces are actually required not to talk. An example is the Sistine Chapel where for its holy and sanctified character visitors have to keep their voice down while standing in this mystical and dark space, barely lit by natural light coming through the windows. Here light emphasizes the famous ‘Last Judgment’ Fresco that imposes itself over the crowd and literally makes everyone’s head turn to it.

Would you feel too controlled in such a space? How do you think you would behave in such a space?
Do you think these are good strategies to keep large crowds of people moving through the space? Or do you think the designer should employ other ways to direct visitors through the space?