Valley ~ Little White Schoolhouse

The Little White Schoolhouse in Valley, WA is a beloved building to the local community. The people of Valley expressed that their vision for this building is to design it to house a heritage museum. Working with one other classmate, Megan Pharmer, we were able to come up with a design that had all of the exhibits and technical needs of the community. Our overall concept is connected to the Elementary School next to the building that is designed with a river in mind. In our design of the Heritage Museum we wanted to connect the two building by also incorporating the river concept. In our museum, our team incorporated the geologic history of the area, the Colville Tribe, Mining and Logging in the 1900s, home life, and downstairs is a community meeting area and a space for local artist's to hang their work. The exterior site has a small and large wagon that is visible from the highway to visually connect tourists to the Little White Schoolhouse. In between the schoolhouse and the existing portables are metal schoolchildren sculptures running towards the school. Overall, I had a great experience working with real clients and the process of designing a heritage museum for these dedicated and enthusiastic clients.

IA | Interior Architects Lecture

David Katsunai, a principal and Design Director if IA Interior Architects in Seattle, came to WSU to talk to students about the the importance of all disciplines of design being able to integrate and work with each other. His lecture was very insightful, and I learned a lot. Design is changing, and we need to adapt and learn ways to adhere to these changes. The following notes are sketches taken throughout his lecture. 

 

Visit to the Appaloosa Museum

My visit to the Appaloosa Museum in Moscow, Idaho gave me some ideas for ways to design and layout a successful heritage museum. We are currently working on a project in Valley, WA where we are to design the Old Valley Schoolhouse into a heritage museum. A lot of the features and layout in the Appaloosa Museum hit on the points that the people of Valley want to display in their future museum.

In this museum, they displayed their information in text on podiums in front of the exhibit. This is successful, but it's not fully accessible for people with disabilities. 

This shows a panoramic view of a curved wall in the museum. The layout and placement of the pieces on the wall is successful. The people of Valley expressed that they wanted something like this in their museum. 

A brick pathway that has the names of the people who donated to the museum is placed outside to recognize those who helped fund the museum. The people of Valley, thought of doing something similar to this for those who plan to donate. 

Webster Environmental and Earth Sciences & Physics Design

Washington State University's, Webster Hall, features Environmental and Earth Sciences, along with Physics exhibits. For this design, our team of nine, came up with different strategies to help gain efficiency and functionality through this space. There are seven geology case displays, moveable cases on the floor and physics cases places around the exhibit. The changes that we made to the floor plan, makes the space more engaging by the placement of the furniture, benches, and exhibits. Working in such a large group, I learned to manage my time very well. I kept on pace with due dates and what needed to be done.

   

Geology Exhibit Existing Floor Plan

   

Geology Exhibit Proposed Floor Plan 

 The seven wall displays, we decided as a group, that the most effective way to tell a story was to put it in chronological order. Our group was divided into groups of either one or two, to put together a case. Megan Pharmer and I put together the two cases of Environmental Hazards. We found the informational content of the poster, while Elizabeth put together the graphic display for all of the seven cases. Our posters are effective and successful because they are readable and easy to understand. I also believe the color scheme is cohesive to geology because it has natural colors. I learned a lot about each exhibit after this project, and feel more comfortable with talking about Museum design.

   

Environmental Hazards Case featuring Landslides & Floods There were six physics exhibits, and we were each given a specific exhibit to enhance the appearance and information about that topic. I had the Magnetic Materials exhibit, and by having a more intriguing display of information, with the correct and useful information, visitors will be more drawn to the exhibit.

   

Alicia Brandkamp & Taylor Brock put together the final posters for Phase 1, which include the original and proposed floor plans, and explains some of the proposed ideas that our group has for the update of the space. Throughout this process, I really enjoyed working in a group. The collaboration between the group was effective, and I learned a lot through the process.

 

 

 At the beginning of this project, I put together cases study posters of science museums that I found interesting. While doing this research, I learned a lot about museum design and what types of things are important to display. Putting together these posters, helped me understand the process and development of museums.