Management of museums based on the Post-Occupancy Evaluation appliance. The case of the Historical and Cultural Museum of Jundiaí, São Paulo

Abstract

In Brazil, there are few researches about museums that contribute more effectively to the management of these facilities and much less researches based on in situ surveys that priorize museum users, whether visitors or staff as an important conservation and maintenance strategy of the building, the collection and the outdoor environments, thus mitigating the risks involved. The article starts from this assumption and describes how Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE), a set of methods and techniques that encompasses the measurement of user perception and satisfaction and the verification of the physical performance of environments can contribute to address diagnoses and recommendations for consistent maintenance and upkeep for older indoor and outdoor collections (including the building itself). To this end, the Jundiaí Historical and Cultural Museum - Solar do Barão – sited at the State of São Paulo, Brazil, was adopted as an exploratory study object to demonstrate the applicability of POE in the case of heritage buildings and their outdoor spaces and to discuss its methodological procedures as an alternative to strategic planning for museums, relating the conservation of the building, the collection and the external environments, with the welcome and the sense of belonging of the visitors and staff. To sum up and as a result of the POE applied in 2018 in this particular case, we present a set of technical-spatial and constructive recommendations based on research, for the built and landscaped set in question and a critical reflection on the need for incorporate procedures for the maintenance, use and operation of museum on daily basis and also use these results, systematically organized, to feedback future readjustments of the case study itself and, broadly, guidelines for architectural designs. In this perspective, the article highlights the importance of the expert architect in the teams that develop the designs for the restoration and modernization of these environments, as well as in those teams that manage them during their use.