Framing and Interpretation of Architectural Education

Abstract

The article analyses the redesign of the Museum of the University of Architecture and Urbanism Ion Mincu (UAUIM) in Bucharest. The second-hand life of the didactic objects of the Bucharest School of Architecture tells a nostalgic story of lost values, of bits and pieces saved from various historical assaults (demolitions, change of ownership, etc.). The organisation and the display of the collection entails a psychological, emotional and cognitive price payed by the curator in order to facillitate the visitor’s acces. Another price to be payed is the long term investment in the preservation of the objects and the interpretation and communication of the collections.

The redesign of the UAUIM Museum can be seen as a form of „frame extension”. The old museum, molded by the historical circumstances of its birth, was extended, in order to attract a broader audience. Not through the introduction of “entertainment” but through a shift of interest: from architectural details (plaster molds, demolition fragments) to all the documents relevant to the history of architecture and the history of the Bucharest School of Architecture. Thus the relevance of the museum was encreased.

Drawing on a personal experience of the framing of the exhibits and of visitor interaction, the article compares what the curators envisioned and what was experienced by the visitors. The comparation and analysis can be used to guide the interpretation of a collection which has grown meanwhile justifying its reframing as an Exhibition and Documentary Center. Some proposals are made for changing the collection presentation on its website and on its Facebook page.