Design Museum Boston

is an interesting new nonprofit working to create virtual and physical design museum spaces in Boston and New England. [via Core77] I'm very excited to see where this leads - I'm really hoping I can get involved somehow! (I mean, how many design/architecture/planning students are there who've spent years shadowing their mother the exhibit designer, prototyped exhibits, maintained and repaired interactives, and done visitor tracking studies...)

My big caution/concern is that the people involved without museum backgrounds will assume they know enough to do museum design from their other experience, which is a path to pain - museum exhibit design is a highly-specialized and unusual field that requires a very different approach from most traditional design ventures.

I wonder what colaboration there could be with the Arc5 Five College Architecture program...

Is there some way the EcoTarium could be involved?? It's not really their focus at all, but they do have vital talent, experience, and fabrication abilities... Maybe even their New England EEC partners?? Hmm...

How broadly are they focusing on 'design'? Is city/regional planning included? Anthropological studies and research of architecture/design? Wayfinding? Oh the possibilities...^_^

Who are the target audiences?? Targeting the general public? Kids? Adults? Design students? How much can those be integrated or segregated? Science museums or art museums are worlds apart in focus and design considerations...

How will the digital and physical elements relate to each other?? I'm really excited by the possibilities, but I don't know what previous examples there are to draw from. But oh the potential!! I think this may actually have the most potential in the long run... wait... this could probably be part of a NSF grant development project couldn't it... It was a big deal when the EcoTarium did their NSF tidepool live-animal interactive and research... oooohhh...

Can there be trains?? I want trains!! ^_^