The culturalexperiencein a museum from inside out - How side openings and view interferewith users’ perception and preferencesin art galleries

This thesis discusses the role of side openings in museums, in relation to users’ visiting experience.The research particularly focuses on the feature of view, analysing if the connection with the outsideenvironment provided through windows, results in an enriched museum’s experience and enhancedcultural identity. The analysis is based on the case study of the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, wherethree rooms with stronger, moderate and weaker connection with the outside environment have beenevaluated through visitors’ surveys. Results show that the public revealed considerable awarenessabout windows and their landscape and yet the view was rarely considered a distracting feature. Theavailable literature on daylight in museums hardly includes view among the acknowledged daylightbenefits, and, also due to the difficulty in controlling the daylight intake, side openings have gained abad reputation in the museum field. However, as in the analysed case study, the view was consideredby many as an enriching part of the visiting experience, this thesis calls for further research on therole of view in exhibition rooms and on how to include it properly in museums’ design