Inside-out museum of city and society

Left is "Blue Bridge" over the Grand River; right museum

The bright summer day pouring through the UV-protected picture windows of the Grand Rapids Public Museum in this photo prompted this question: how might it be possible to turn the lived-in downtown environment into something like a museum, complete with label text (e.g. GPS points to link an item's physical identifier to a paragraph of text, audio, and/or embedded links or imagery). That way the walls that separate inside from outside would disappear and the same expectations that visitors bring to poking around the permanent and temporary exhibitions could also accompany them outdoors on their way to and from school, work, shopping, or other occasion that brings the person into the cultural landscape. In fact this relationship between inside (glass cases, informative text, eye-catching artifacts, and thought-provoking references) and outside (hustle and bustle, preoccupied with schedules, and using minimal imagination or energy to engage with routine objects and subjects repeatedly passed by unexamined or reflected upon) could complement each other so that something of the museum visit attitudes apply to the everyday habits and repeated places and activities; but also the reverse, something of the "regular life" could also be applied in the museum setting to make the artifacts part of another time and another place, but still viewed now as "unremarkable, functional" parts of one's day, not as glass-encased specimens worthy of special scrutiny. 

By "de-exoticizing" the exhibit elements (putting the artifacts back into the flow of normal life) and simultaneously "de-familiarizing" the world of consumer calculations, popular culture topics trending, and considerations about one's next meal or time commitment to honor, then the result is to make the museum more life-like to one's own time and place at the same time also making the places outside the walls of the museum a bit more interesting and museum-like; worth stopping to examine close up and learning the context of when and how the particular element in one's landscape of cultural meanings and background infrastructure came to be as it is now. In summary, with the help of prominent QR codes tagged to outdoor features big or small, curious gawkers and walkers could wander and wonder as they explore the city streets with a portable Internet device (phone or tablet or maybe a wristwatch or supercharge Internet glasses) and get to know their cultural landscape as an endless outdoor museum without walls, whether they be local residents or out-of-towners.

Traces of earlier lives and livelihoods

The cultural landscape not only mirrors the present moment in the flow of events and personalities, but it also fits into the quote attributed to science-fiction writer, William Gibson; that "the future is already here, but it is distributed unevenly." By extension the cultural landscape is also the place where the past is still here, but it is distributed unevenly.

Fulton and Jefferson Streets, Grand Rapids, MI 49503

This photo shows a variety of buildings in downtown Grand Rapids, each with a different origin story. A closer look at the physical expression of the historical moment that each one dates to will reveal some of the desirable design elements of the time, the state of the (then) art installed and contractors' standard of practice in craftsmanship, the functionality and features of the time, and the purpose it was meant to be used for when first opened. Apart from the church steeple barely visible over the treetops on the right side of the horizon in this photo, most of the other buildings have tenants or owners much different to the people who dreamt of the building and then brought it to completion. 

Just as the assemblage of buildings from different eras all jostle side by side in the present moment, the same can be said of people of different generations, social-economic status, ethnic origins, and so on who comprise today's nation and this particular municipality. Likewise of books in the lending collection on the nearby library shelves; of trees in the park of different ages and origins; or words found in conversation or present in this sentence. What is common to all these examples is the co-incidence or coexistence of subjects with origins of different years and possibly of different geographic setting. No matter what the roots are and what the path was that brings the things together in the present moment, they all share the space and time right now: the future is already here, but also the past is still here. This mix of dates and styles is what makes it so engaging and rewarding to read the cultural landscape. Even with incomplete knowledge, it is possible to see in the photo a Chinese buffet across the street in a sturdy and stylish brick building with decorative ceramic elements. Surely, the original owners did not envision the series of businesses that have filled the premises across the generations since it was built and opened for business decades ago.

Without expertise, deep memory, or local knowledge it is hard to know with confidence the meanings, uses, and chronology of personalities and events connected to a given building and surrounding location. But even approaching the cultural landscape with much ignorance, there is some satisfaction that is earned upon starting the adventure by paying attention; noticing details, patterns, and surrounding conditions that may contribute to the design, siting, and features visible in the durable structures of years ago.

In contrast to mass produced features of the cityscape like clothing, vehicles, and functional parts of the infrastructure like signage, traffic rules, and public safety services like police and fire, the creation of a building is usually one-of-a-kind. So whereas these other elements of the present moment might reflect something about the purchaser and user, in the case of buildings the massive scale and the long lifespan allow curious observers to imagine some of the considerations of the designer, builder, and owner at the original creation of the architectural form created. Later developments in technology, economy and consumer relations, and trends in people's lives play a part in the second and additional chapters in the each particular building, but traces of the original decisions baked into the structure can still be read into what we see there today. Perhaps there was a degree of pride, fashionableness, or ambition to present the latest services and products. 

Generations later those faint echoes from the original time of opening perhaps remain for those who seek them, but even without turning an eye to "the past is still here, but it is distributed unevenly," it is possible to appreciate the diverse eras all buildings present here within walking distance in the city center. Then after exercising one's imagination of the past that lives on, it is natural to continue the process and look ahead through the mists of time to suppose how these same durable structures may carry on as time travelers to the future, under the management of new owners or tenants who continue their livelihood among the lives of those future people who only now being born.