Spectacular architecture, identity crisis, cultural politics and the reinvention of the significance of museums of modern art
type: CreativeWork
description: Much of the available literature on the impact of the architecture of museums of modern art has centred upon the 'spectacularity' of such structures and the regeneration effect on sites and/or cities triggered by their presence, often highlighting their agency in promoting mass tourist activity. However, apart from these widely debated facts, more complex circumstances regarding major shifts in the socio-cultural and political arenas may have influenced the identity, conception, design and implementation of these architectural structures within cityscapes and urban fabrics - circumstances which are often overlooked. Considering this complex contextual frameset, this work concentrates on a specific period of time, indicating the substantial renovation cities have been through since the industrialisation-boom of the 1950s, and ponders the relation between these physical and symbolic transformations and the consequences of this 'modernisation' process in the social-cultural panorama. Albeit assumed as a preponderant factor in cities' 'modernising' policies, this research does not aim to map the most significant or to construct a historiography of modern art museums. The objective is to discuss whether this 'modernisation' process is related to the transformations in the scope, form, function and identity of modern art museums in the last 60 years or so, highlighting the implications of the phenomenon that glorifies these architectural structures per se. But to what extent, or in what sense, has the set of socio-cultural transformations seen since the 1950s conceptually/concretely affected the architecture of museums of modern art? How did this particularly elitist building type emerge as such powerful element in both politico-economic and socio-cultural terms, becoming a major agent in transforming cities' identities since the 1990s? The Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro (Affonso Eduardo Reidy, 1953-1967); the Centre de Culture et d'Art Georges Pompidou, Paris (Ren…
abstract: Much of the available literature on the impact of the architecture of museums of modern art has centred upon the 'spectacularity' of such structures and the regeneration effect on sites and/or cities triggered by their presence, often highlighting their agency in promoting mass tourist activity. However, apart from these widely debated facts, more complex circumstances regarding major shifts in the socio-cultural and political arenas may have influenced the identity, conception, design and implementation of these architectural structures within cityscapes and urban fabrics - circumstances which are often overlooked. Considering this complex contextual frameset, this work concentrates on a specific period of time, indicating the substantial renovation cities have been through since the industrialisation-boom of the 1950s, and ponders the relation between these physical and symbolic transformations and the consequences of this 'modernisation' process in the social-cultural panorama. Albeit assumed as a preponderant factor in cities' 'modernising' policies, this research does not aim to map the most significant or to construct a historiography of modern art museums. The objective is to discuss whether this 'modernisation' process is related to the transformations in the scope, form, function and identity of modern art museums in the last 60 years or so, highlighting the implications of the phenomenon that glorifies these architectural structures per se. But to what extent, or in what sense, has the set of socio-cultural transformations seen since the 1950s conceptually/concretely affected the architecture of museums of modern art? How did this particularly elitist building type emerge as such powerful element in both politico-economic and socio-cultural terms, becoming a major agent in transforming cities' identities since the 1990s? The Museu de Arte Moderna, Rio de Janeiro (Affonso Eduardo Reidy, 1953-1967); the Centre de Culture et d'Art Georges Pompidou, Paris (Ren…
author: Ferreira da Rocha e Silva, Ana Beatriz
language: en
keywords: Architectural Design Theory, Museum studies
identifier: Ferreira da Rocha e Silva, Ana Beatriz <https://ualresearchonline.arts.ac.uk/view/creators/Ferreira_da_Rocha_e_Silva=3AAna_Beatriz=3A=3A.html> (2011) Spectacular architecture, identity crisis, cultural politics and the reinvention of the significance of museums of modern art. PhD thesis, University of the Arts London.
date published: 2011-06
date modified: 2026-07-24T01:00:32Z
provider: University of the Arts London
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of the Arts London