How do we communicate through the design and construction of spaces?
By studying buildings and spaces, we can learn about the people who built and designed them and, even the people who inhabit them.
Introduction
When we think about art in museums, we may think only of paintings hung on walls or precious objects displayed in glass cases. But what of the space itself? Architects—like artists—communicate visually through their designs, but their artworks are buildings and structures rather than paintings and sculptures. Starting from concept and vision, they first translate their ideas into diagrams, maps, and drawings. They then develop scale models and eventually three-dimensional spaces that exist in the real world.
Architecture is a combination of art and science; it requires not only design skills but an understanding of mathematics, engineering, and material science. By studying buildings and spaces, we can learn about the people who built and designed them and even the people who inhabited them. Mia’s galleries feature several period rooms—displays that bring together architectural components, furniture, and decorative objects to evoke or re-create a historical interior space. By studying these spaces, we can learn a lot about the different cultures they represent.
Wu Family Reception Hall
Take, for example, the Wu Family Reception Hall, which was originally part of a residential home located near the present-day town of Dongshan in central China. As the most important room in the house, it expressed the social status and economic power of the family, as well as its degree of cultural refinement and artistic taste. Strict regulations dictated the size, decorations, and even the floor-tile patterns of rooms like this based on the family’s official rank and social status. The diagonal floor pattern, carved beams, and ornate cloud-and-phoenix panels in the uppermost reaches of the ceiling, for instance, indicate that the Wu family had achieved a relatively high official status.
The reception hall, in classical Chinese architecture, was a family room that typically served two important purposes. One would have been for receiving and entertaining family or invited guests and for celebrating formal occasions. The second purpose was for paying homage to the gods and ancestors.
When purchased by the museum in 1996, this reception hall was the only building remaining of a residence built by the prominent Wu family. The first room of its kind to enter an American collection, the room serves as an exhibition gallery for classical furniture, calligraphic panels declaring Confucian values, and other works of fine art.
I.M. Pei and Modern Architecture
Ieoh Ming (I. M.) Pei was born in Guangzhou, China, and moved to the United States to study architecture and design. His career designing some of the world’s most iconic structures ——including the glass pyramid of the Louvre museum in Paris and the East Wing of the National Gallery in Washington, D.C.—spanned more than six decades. In downtown Minneapolis, not far from Mia, the Capella Tower skyscraper and office building was designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the New York firm founded by Pei in 1955. Another iconic building in downtown Minneapolis, the Northwestern National Life Building—later known as the Voya Financial 20 Washington—is an office building designed by Minoru Yamasaki, the Japanese- American architect best known for his design of the original World Trade Center towers in New York City. Mia itself underwent a modern expansion in 1974 led by the Japanese architect Kenzo Tange.
Period rooms transport us to different times, places, and cultures. Modern architecture, including spaces designed by Asian and Asian American architects, often draws inspiration from international styles. It is part of the everyday landscape (and lives) of people around the world. To learn more about Asian styles of architecture and design, we can look to both the past and the present.
Teaching and Learning Strategies
- 1
Whether you’re visiting Mia in person with your students or looking at images online, take the opportunity to explore period rooms too!
- Notice what the room looks like, its furnishings, dimensions, and light source. If you’re at Mia, take the opportunity to engage as many senses as possible. How does it feel to be in the space? What does it smell like and sound like?
- Then, ask your students to think about the following: What visual clues are there to figure how the room functions? What are the elements of architectural design or interior decorating that reveal the purpose of the room? What cultural influences and elements can students identify? Who do you think uses a room like this? What kind of life do they lead? In other words, try to humanize students’ experience of the space.
- 2
Compare and contrast architectural styles from diverse geographic areas. Research the respective locations’ climates and available building materials, for example. Ask students how environmental factors influence design. How do aspects of culture like religion, politics, art, or even eating habits influence design? Include buildings from a range of time periods; you can study images or take a class field trip to study different architectural styles firsthand.