NATIONAL UNIVERSITY BALIWAG

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECHTURE

TITLE:
MIDTERM RESEARCH PAPER

NAME:

CRUZ, JUSTIN PAOLO A.

YAMBAO, JOHN FREDERICK M.

COURSE:

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN 4: SPACE PLANING 1

INSTRUCTOR:

AR. KIM LEMUEL DELO SANTOS, UAP

DATE:

04-07-2025
Introduction
Museums are where you go to discover history, culture and important ideas. In recent
years, “theme museums,” or museums concentrated on one specific theme, have become
increasingly popular. What’s different about these museums is that rather than have a little
bit of everything, like most traditional museums, they focus on a single subject, such as
time, a type of science or a culture. This allows visitors to better digest and enjoy what
they’re learning.
This is a study on how theme museums are planned, designed, and why they are so relevant
today. These days there are those who wish for museums to be less passive and boring even,
not just to pointlessly observe displays. Theme museums

Case Study
two theme museums were chosen for further study on different manners and methods of
museum design and exhibition. One museum is local (Philippines), and the other is
international. Museums provide a learning experience because they all offer something
different and unique on a particular topic.

Local
1. “National Museum of Antropology”

Architectural Design
The National Museum of Anthropology occupies a neoclassical public building built during
the American colonial period. It has a nearly symmetrical elevation, tall Corinthian columnns
and an imposing central space with an atrium at its center. The architecture of the building
conveys formality and respect, which matches the function of a national cultural institution.

Materials and Construction

The building was constructed out of reinforced concrete, stone, and hardwood, which
symbolize the construction methods that are durable and considered monumental during the
period. Marble floors and wood finishes on the interiors provide an institutional atmosphere
to it.

Sustainability
The building is not making use of cutting-edge green technologies, but rather was
passively designed with a green sensibility. Thick masonry walls and high ceilings insure
natural thermal regulation while the house is filled with daylight from large windows. Recent
updates such as energy-efficient lighting and upgraded HVAC have been added.

Functionality and User Experience

The museum encourages educational activities, with wide corridors, clear signage, and
thematic galleries. Visitors experience a formal but welcoming environment with exhibitions
featuring ethnographic artifacts, dioramas, and interactive learning tools. The spatial layout
facilitates a progressive exploration of Philippine cultural history.

Challenges and Solutions

One of the key match challenges was how to modernise the early 20th century building to
be used as a museum, without diminishing its heritage. Proposals ranged from redesigning the
inside to become gallery space, to enhancing access and climate control to better preserve
fragile items.

Conclusion
The National Museum of Anthropology is an excellent example of how historic architecture
can be used for modern museological purposes. The blend of cultural narrative with classical
design makes it important in the building of a national identity for the museum. While the
structure does not have many high-tech features of sustainability, it has been made functional
and comfortable for visitors with careful retrofitting.
It teaches singularity and originality, and the identity of the Self along with its
contradictory role in making history. What effectively uses is this particular current that
submerges all private and personal history-such as. journal-or diary entries or catalogues as
to the making of midnight illuminations by a discipline. This type of use needed to be very
intense.

2. Lakbay Museum

Architectural Design
The Lakbay Museo's interior is colourful and playful and is basically within a
commercial shopping mall. The spatial layout is nonlinear and immersive, featuring themed
zones identified with different regions of the Philippines. More than formal structure, the
architecture emphasizes interactivity, vivid colours, and creative visual storytelling.

Materials and Construction

The materials are lightweight and economical, such as plywood, foam, fabric, recycled
plastics, and salvaged materials. Through these eco-friendly and reusable elements, it aims at
cultural education using sustainability as a pointer.

Sustainability
The Lakbay Museo is in the business of promoting sustainability through exhibits made
from upcycled and recycled materials. In a way that cannot be called green, it fosters
environmental consciousness among its visitors and exhibits functional models of sustainable
design.

Functionality and User Experience

The museum is purposely made for interaction and invites visitor involvement through
tactile exhibits, opportunities for photos, and experiential displays. Each section immerses
users in local tradition, cuisine, and customs, thus, it is especially popular amongst the
young and tourists.

Challenges and Solutions

The spatial constraints presented the most difficulties along with the need to design an
engaging visitor experience in a commercial environment. The problem was solved by designing
compact exhibits that were animated and made good use of floor space as wells as vertical
space. Cost-efficient scalable solutions and creative construction material also provided the
required flexibility.

Conclusions
Lakbay Museo is an example of how cultural education can be offered in an engaging and
convenient manner in non-conventional places. Its materials and methods of implementation are
made for interaction which opt for experience over passive learning while respecting the
unforgettably rich heritage of the Philippines.

International
1. ”Anne Frank House”

Architectural Design
The Anne Frank House is an extraordinary preservation of the original 17th-century
structure that served as a hiding space for Anne Frank and her family during the Second World
War. The museum preserved the historical annex and added a contemporary extension to blatantly
provide space for visitor services, exhibitions, and educational programs. The juxtaposition
of the historical and contemporary architecture eloquently highlights the historical
significance of this important site.

Materials and Construction

The annex, in its original building material, includes brick walls, wooden floorboards,
and narrow stairs, all enabling a sense of accuracy to the preservation. The modern extension
provides a contrast of materials in steel, concrete, and glass and, in doing so, also provides
an honest modernity to the visitor experience; since we are to think about the past while
allowing for space concerning them to wander and move through the exhibits.
Sustainability
The Anne Frank House has energy-conscious systems (LED lighting, efficient insulation,
and climate control sustainability technology), designed to ensure that the preservation and
protection of sensitive historical artifacts and their particular climate likely created some
challenges. While the location as a whole had limited structural adaptability, renewable and
sustainable infrastructure was incorporated to the modern extension.

Challenges and Solutions

A main challenge was maintaining preservation while providing for the large visitor
volume. The solution resulted in limiting access to the annex and adding more visitor services
within the new extension. By limiting access, it preserves the historic space while
maintaining flow and accessibility.

Conclusions
The Anne Frank House shows how a museum may create meaning around memory and history
through informed architectural integration and a thoughtfully designed visitor journey. It is
a robust demonstration of how architecture and narrative may be used together to provide a
meaningful user experience.

2. “Louvre Museum”

Architectural Design
The Louvre Museum is a historic structure, having been built as a medieval castle, then
transformed into a palace, and now a public museum. The design respects the classical
Renaissance style, while also integrating modernist touches such as the iconic glass pyramid
designed in 1989 by I. M. Pei. This melding of past monumentality and sleek modern minimalism
heightened access to the museum, while also acknowledging its history.

Materials and Construction

The older components are all limestone and marble with elaborate facades, vaulted ceilings,
and grand staircases. The pyramid and the underground lobby are glass and steel based, letting
light and transparency into the spaces. The installation of traditional and contemporary
materials displays architecture's growth and resilience.

Sustainability
Many parts of the Louvre were not exactly built with sustainability in mind; the newer
areas now utilize energy-saving lighting, water-saving systems, and climate control to help
preserve its enormous collection. The glass pyramid provides natural light to the central
courtyard, so less artificial light is needed.

Functionality and User Experience

The Louvre museum is a geometric structure that follows a centralized design, and each
of the four wings reflects a different thematic: the European Paintings offered as one wing or
another and the Egyptian Antiquities offered another wing. While there can be many
simultaneous visitors navigating, the navigation is direct with well placed signage,
escalators, and digital guides available in case visitors become lost. The ends of each wing
are a fair distance apart and since the museum is quite large, visitors had ample room to
explore without worrying about their path. The large amounts of space and calibrated
architectural lighting add to the viewing experience. Despite its large size, the Louvre
manages to design pathways for focused exploration of key works.

Challenges and Solutions

It can be an arduous task in conceiving the enormous divine of visitors from around the
globe while protecting the objects and architecture from the crowd. The subterranean entrance
allows the guests some relief to the inventory loads of people and circulation within the
vicinity of the entrance with the pyramid. Hotel renovations are ongoing to further enforce
the work designed by the previous provisions while enhancing the spaces with more of a modern
working color.
Conclusions
The Louvre Museum is an example of architectural re-contextualization over centuries.
Its combinations of classical and modern elements allow for preservation and innovation; it is
not only a cultural heritage but also a model for new museum design and management