Liliana O. Beltran, Ph. D., Texas A&M University

Abstract: This paper presents the assessment of the lighting conditions of selected exhibit areas in three museums located at the same site, the Dallas-Fort Worth Cultural District. These museums are the Modern Art Museum by Tadao Ando (2002), the Kimbell Art Museum by Louis Kahn (1972), and the Amon Carter Museum by Philip Johnson (1961, 2001). Each of the museums presents different lighting conditions to exhibit their art collection. This study focuses on specific galleries that include daylight as a source of illumination. Each selected gallery is examined; assessed on the site; simulated using state-of-the-art lighting tools; and evaluated according to good lighting practice: light exposure, glare, and ultraviolet radiation.

Introduction

Light in museums is necessary to enhance and view museum objects; but at the same time, if not properly controlled, light can harm and reduce the life of the museum artifacts. To improve the quality of illumination in museum galleries, daylight has been reintroduced after many windowless galleries were built. Daylighting compared to most electric light sources has more potential to harm susceptible objects, and represents a challenge for designers to succeed in controlling it. Sunlight can create serious problems in the conservation of museum objects, when window systems are not carefully designed to intercept sunrays at all times.

This paper presents the evaluation of three museums that have many similarities as well as differences, and the reflections about the design of daylighting systems in museums. These museums, the Modern Art Museum, Kimbell Art Museum, and Amon Carter Museum, are located in the Fort Worth Cultural District, next to each other (Figure 1). These museums that include in their collection valuable art work, were designed by three well-known architects, who have used a variety of daylighting systems to illuminate the museum galleries to best accommodate the exhibit’s lighting requirement.