The Affects of communication technology on museum architecture

In recent years, the increase in the usage of computer technology and developments about the communication technology creates a changing and reforming process in every part of life. Thomsen describes this process by saying "For several years now we have been living in an accelerated phase of social and cultural evolution, a widespread reshaping of society into a media, communication, and information culture". The aim of this research is to show that, the developments in communication technologies affect architecture not only by computer aided design and drafting (CADD) but also by bringing new design factors and new terms to architectural language. According to the literature search it is seen that building types like banks, schools, libraries were affected by the developments in communication technology and the changing systems started to affect their architectural design. But museums were chosen as the case study typology now that they are the places where 'communication' is an important design factor and that the changing communication techniques affect architecture obviously. Museum typology is investigated with these steps:. Investigating the development of museum typology on the examples and identifying the years in which obvious changes on the architectural design is seen. Finding out the communication tecnology tools that are used in these years and searching for their affects on the museum arhitecture. Searching for the affects of the communication technologies on today's museum examples by investigating about the communication between the exhibitted object and the visitor, the inside planning and the facade design.. Investigating about the new and alternative museum types which are discussed today. Investigating about the museums in Turkey about these developments around the world The research made on the new museums shows that there is an increase on the visitor's demand on the interactive display units in the museums, a preference for the puzzle like plannings instead of linear circulation, an approach for a new aesthetic of the computer age on the decorations, a transformation of the walls to a unit to communicate. In the last section, the findings are used to identify a frame about the relation of communication technologies and architecture which covers:. New design and presentation opportunities provided by the computer technology. New design factors like; the new aspects and behaviours of the users, new plannings, new aesthetic, new facade design. New terms for architectural design, like fluidty or media-architecture, that are carried by these changes, These items are investigated for their potentials to be investigated in the future