The Exploratorium is a 21st century learning laboratory in San Francisco. Its mission is to empower visitors to figure things out for themselves by creating an interactive space for art and science.
Consolidation
The Exploratorium has recently relocated to a historic pier, renovated with high-tech energy and water systems and environmentally sustainable materials on Pier 15. This has allowed the organisation an opportunity to consolidate and centralise departments in this larger museum and office space. This location change has allowed a more collaborative working structure to develop. Digital and design deparments have merged with positive outcomes; resources and expertise are regularily pooled and used for relevant cross departmental projects.
Mobile art galleries
Part of the organisations remit is learning and this often manifests itself in collaborations with other institutions, lending technical know-how, instructions, resources and exhibit specific knowledge to science centres so they can build their own learning exhibits.
The Exploratorium also initiates portable exhibits around San Francisco, taking art and science to local communities. The latest of these is the Skateboard Science Trailer Parklet, and ongoing project where seven interactive exhibits teach the physics behind skateboarding, bringing learning out of the museum structure and onto the streets.
Another project that fits into this realm is a project the Exploratorium did in collaboration with the city of San Francisco called a Living Innovation Zone. It was the first of 10 projects to re-design public space in San Francisco. A further one is planned in 2015.
Internal blogging
The organisation has recently added 3 social media posts, making a total of 4. An established and well integrated external social media strategy already exists. There is also an internal blogging structure where staff can share knowledge including department news, instructions and processes. Each blog is tagged so it can be used as a knowledge base for the future.
Conclusions
Keeping the founding ethos of letting visitors ‘work it out for themselves’ remains at the heart of the organisations mission objectives. This is central to keeping The Exploratorium a thriving learning space. Every exhibit is interactive and having a workshop on the ground level allows visitors to see exhibits being fixed ‘behind the scenes’. Off site learning programmes, local exhibits and out sourcing passionate and dedicated engineers to other institutions keeps the organisation varied and progressive in its scale and scope of activities.
What does this mean for the future visual?
The exhibits are the central attraction for the visitor, their interactiveness drives the museum’s ethos and appeal. Producing a visual language and style that allows visitors to interact directly with this concept and brand ethos is desirable for all museum brands. Techniques such as displaying visitors instagram pictures on the home page is very much part of this interactive and first hand visual identity, empowering users to engage, and edit The Exploratorium for themselves. Bringing visitor experience to the heart of digital messaging could be expanded further in relation to the ‘future visual’ language of science and art institutions.
