Exhibition design firm Casson Mann creates a world-class visitor experience for the Benjamin Franklin Museum in Philadelphia, USA.
With a remit to teach visitors about the legacy of one of the great men of the 18th Century, Casson Mann was commissioned to create a completely new world class interpretive exhibition experience. The journey begins at the new ticket desk and continues through the underground museum where all aspects of the space have been reconsidered.
The exhibition gallery required a physical ‘architecture’ to provide vertical surfaces, plinths and display cases to house the exhibit content. We wanted this ‘architecture’ to provide a strong visual identity and narrative support to the story.
Our approach was to look at a variety of ways of suggesting ‘rooms’ that could provide the practical space for exhibits but also set the domestic scene, hint at the scale of Franklin Court, and provide some reminders of the 18th Century - and all without creating a reconstruction of something we could only guess at.
The final concept represents the original domestic scale of the 18th Century house by changing the floor finish from the neutral exhibition floor to unequal width timber boards within each room. The perimeter of each room (the missing ‘brick wall’) is represented as a band of timber boards between the timber within the room and the central area floor finish. In addition to the timber floor, a floating ceiling also helps to set an environmental context.
The display concepts supports and maintains a link with 18th century domestic interior vernacular; hence portraits, landscapes, images of buildings, and still life images are displayed vertically on the ribbon wall structure. Graphic material, such as images created for books, book pages, pamphlets, scientific illustrations and charts, is displayed as a page or book on desktop surfaces.
Floating above these plinths is a family of display furniture items that carry interactives, images and caption level text. These provide a reference to 18th Century furniture through either material or details. Topic panels are formed as folding ‘doors’ or ‘window shutters’ from the ribbon wall structure.
The exhibition environment has been designed to feel spacious and inviting, with an open plan and generous room for wheelchair access. Circulation is clockwise, around a central timeline feature that also provides seating areas for rest and reflection.
The exhibition concludes with a Legacy wall that explores Franklin through the ages and the evolution of Philadelphia. From there visitors continue through to the shop and exit.
The Benjamin Franklin Museum is part of historic Franklin Court in Indepence National Park. Originally built by the National Park Service in 1976, this is the first time the venue has been reconsidered since opening.
