Project Type: <span>Research</span>

Museum of London – Deep Time

Flow were commissioned to test the concept for Deep Time, a space within the new Museum of London site at Smithfield Market which
will invite visitors to experience the magic of the Museum store.

This space will include a working store, styled to highlight the enormity of the collection, and a digital portal into the museum’s other stores. Visitors will be able to explore the collection in a number of ways, physically and virtually, and through this the histories contained within them.

Key to the concept is a sense of discovery and play. Adults and families will be invited into a space which is usually set for Key Stage 2 school groups, so it is important that it is designed to cater for all.

Our research tested with key audience groups how people can connect with the space and its content on a physical, emotional, and
intellectual level, ensuring that it is accessible to a range of audiences. Through workshops and site visits with families and young “Experience Seekers”, we tested object handling approaches and looked at how groups interacted with working museum storage spaces.

 

A report, presentation and set of recommendations was produced to inform the design brief and curatorial approach within the gallery.

 

Future Views

Future Views is a forward-looking research project, creating tools to help imagine the next generation of cultural learning in 20 years time.

Royal Opera House Bridge, Artswork and Festival Bridge are working together with Local Cultural Education Partnerships (LCEPs) across the South East. They have commissioned us to organise a series of discussions and trial a toolkit, to explore how emerging technologies, organisational behaviours and critical trends in the world might shape cultural learning in a local context.

Flow is using processes inspired by Speculative Design, or Design Fictions, to create inspiring tools that are rooted in reality while unleashing imagination about the future. These tools will then be made available to any other cultural learning partnerships to help plan their own local Route Map to 2036.