CMU MEDIA ARTS AND DESIGN CENTER

Abstract

The development of technological innovations has led to the diversification of art in terms of its form as an instrument to portray artists’ ideas and creativity. Focusing on contemporary art in the twenty-first century, electronic and digital media play a dominant role as well as conventional art forms. From an architectural perspective, shifting media and form affect the design framework of art space in the twenty-first century, which requires further study for suitable criteria. In addition, existing art spaces are outnumbered by the sheer quantity of artworks due to continuous artistic production. Several art spaces counteract this problem by expanding the existing structure to support and respond to the increasing number of artworks. However, the process is facing some difficulty due to limitations to the existing structures and lack of design in support of any future expansion. The research methods included: 1) reviewing the academic documents related to the art space, method of expansion, and case studies based on expansion of art space; and, 2) surveying existing art spaces (local and international) to analyze patterns of exhibition space toward various form of art. According to the survey, if the majority of exhibition spaces are to support contemporary art forms they need further development to improve their existing status, especially flexibility of exhibition space. Therefore, the survey analysis has led to a design proposal using a prefabricated structure, which is suitable to support the future expansion and redesign of exhibition space in becoming more flexible in terms of curating. Finally, this design framework is implemented at the Chiang Mai Media Arts and Design Center (Chiang Mai, Thailand) to study the possibility as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the design proposal. This study will be useful for any future project as a guideline that can be adjusted to each specific site.