Project 3---Study Period

What are the architectural features of a gallery, a commercial gallery?

Because the function of a commercial gallery is to exhibit art works and impressing vistors to purchase the artworks, therefore, a commercial gallery has double characteristics. It is supposed to be a place that can give the best the most suitable environment for art work displaying, making the art works showing their beauty and value as much as possible.

During the lecture and my own study period, i found that lighting and the size of the space are the most important elements in gallery design.

Here are some valuable notes:

Lighting Design in Museums


Visibility: Visibility requires a minimum level of illumination, good contrast without shadows, good colour rendering and avoidance of glare. Objects made of light or video installation must be shielded from light that would distract the observer, while large objects such as monuments or excavation sites should be shown in as natural a light as possible, without however, being exposed to damaging weather conditions.

Illuminances of 50 lux for paper and textiles, and 150 lux for paintings on canvas have been established. The potential damage to objects form the thermal effects of lighting should be taken into account (tension, stretching, crack formation). Heating of objects due to heat radiation that can lead to damage must be avoided, so ‘cold’ light without infrared is recommended.Window glass with ultraviolet filtering characteristics is used in museum buildings today in order to protect the interior rooms from energy-rich spectrum of daylight.

Light openings should be positioned correspondingly high. Directional lighting with corresponding shadowing is advantageous for spatial orientation and for the perception of objects (spatial forms, surface structures). Extremely soft, non-directional lighting, for example through a high proportion of reflected indirect lighting should therefore be avoided, just as overly contrasty lighting should as well.

High rooms and windows placed high on the walls, immediately under the ceiling, are advantageous. Light-deflecting devices in the windows can be helpful as well as ceiling cavities lined with light-reflecting materials that deflect the daylight into the depths of the room by means of multiple reflections through a light-disseminating ceiling underneath (cf. Kunsthaus Bregenz by Peter Zumthor).

The lighter the sufaces, the better the light distribution by multiple reflections and the general lighting of the room.

Room lighting is used to ensure that visitors can move safely through the museum. For this kind of lighting, 20 to 50 lux is already sufficient, for example, for the corridors. Room lighting also has the task of making visitor’s stay in the museum comfortable, for example for relaxation phases after concentrated observation or stimulation through changing of one’s spatial situation. An evenly lighted exhibition quickly leads to fatigue, and the visit becomes strenuous.