The nine principles of effective place design, derived from Evolutionary Biology, applied to museum and gallery design.

1. Grazing through the savannah Designing for optimal visitor experiences in Australian museums and galleries: what we can learn from Evolutionary Biology Gillian Savage 2006

6. Environmental biology Mountain :: Desert :: Cave :: Forest :: Coast Savannah But we thrive in environments that have characteristics of the savannahs that human life evolved in. We can survive in a wide range of environments Stephen Boyd

7. Savannah

9. 1. Visual access – balance access and enclosure Art Gallery of NSW – enclosed spaces and view to places beyond

10. 2. Horizontal rather than vertical Art Gallery of NSW foyer – strong horizontal planes

11. Vertical = challenge Guggenheim Bilbao “ The atrium, a jewel of modern architecture, has hosted official events in need of dramatic scenery, such as presentations, catwalk shows, prize-giving events, lunches, dinners and cocktail parties.”

12. 3. Long sight lines Art Gallery of NSW

13. Long sight lines Redcliffe Museum

14. Limited sight lines National Museum of Australia

15. 4. Overhead canopy Melbourne Museum

16. 5. Multiple retreats Melbourne Museum

17. Multiple retreats National Film and Sound Archive of Australia

18. 6. Natural light National Museum of Australia

19. It’s night time National Museum of Australia

20. 7. Patterned complexity National Museum of Australia

21. Patterned complexity Museum of Tropical Queensland This open atrium has strong patterns

22. 8. Movement National Library of Australia People provide movement

23. Static Old Parliament House Touch screen brings some activity to this heritage space

24. Movement Old Parliament House Enactments bring activity to this heritage space

25. 9. Not too noisy Easy to hear normal speech Old Parliament House

27. Not in Kansas Guggenheim Bilbao The vertical scale and hard surfaces create a challenging entry

28. Where are we going? National Museum of Australia

29. Coloured cave Melbourne Aquarium

30. Kids storytelling cave National Museum of Australia

32. Savannah