The Situation. Downtown. An alleyway and adjacent building form the volumetric parametric parameters for a hypothetical, semi-urban addition. The Program. A synthesis of bookstore, art gallery, and cafe outlines the necessary conditions to be featured in the proposed building. The Strategy. To actualize each element of the program while attempting to construct, through minimal intervention, a space which maximizes the cross-sectional aspects of the situation and the internal organization of the program. / Master of Architecture

This dissertation analysed the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of visual artists. An empirical survey was conducted on a sample of the more informationliterate visual artists in South Africa. A model of the information environment of South African visual artists was developed. This model provides a basis for another model which represents the optimal service that should be rendered to meet the needs of this user group. It was found that the general information needs of South African artists are fairly adequately met, but that there are several shortfalls, especially in serving their more complex information needs. The most important problems are the lack of training in the use of information sources and services, inadequate marketing of services and inadequate coverage of South African art. It was also found that greater coordination between service providers is urgently required, especially in the provision of information about South African art. / M. (Information Science)

A pesquisa observa as novas relações de produção e difusão da arte que surgiram com a utilização da internet e das novas tecnologias, pelas instituições culturais, para a expansão de suas atividades. A investigação propõe que essa nova forma de comunicação pode unir o alcance das plataformas virtuais, a credibilidade de grandes centros artísticos e a força dos processos colaborativos de criação em rede para ampliar a propagação da arte e da cultura. O estudo pretende mostrar como museus, galerias e instituições culturais em geral, têm desenvolvido trabalhos na world wide web, desde o começo dos anos 90, de forma a ampliar o acesso do público, não apenas a seus acervos e exposições, mas também à possibilidade de criação conjunta do conhecimento museológico e de nossa herança cultural. Através da observação dos conteúdos disponibilizados na rede por museus variados, nacionais e internacionais, relacionados a artigos sobre questões contemporâneas da museologia, são analisados como os objetivos das instituições artísticas quanto ao uso do ciberespaço têm evoluído. Há um crescente esforço em suprir as necessidades culturais dos novos espectadores da era conectada da internet. Hoje, modelos de exposições virtuais permitem que formatos de arte efêmera, como performances ou intervenções, possam efetivamente fazer parte dos espaços museológicos. Foi criada uma nova ligação com o visitante do museu, que pode estar em qualquer lugar do mundo e, utilizando redes sociais e mídias móveis, passa a ser criador e difusor de conteúdo, além de receptor. Por fim, há a reflexão sobre como, enquanto se adéquam às novas relações do homem com a arte e a cultura através do mundo virtual, as instituições devem se preocupar com a responsabilidade social e a democratização do acesso aos bens culturais por aqueles que ainda não tem contato frequente com as novas tecnologias. / The research points the new relations of production and dissemination of art that emerge with the use of the Internet and new technologies, by cultural institutions to expand their activities. The research suggests that this new form of communication can put together the reach of virtual platforms, the credibility of major artistic centers and the strength of networks for collaborative creation processes, to enlarge the propagation of art and culture. The study aims to show how museums, galleries and cultural institutions in general, have developed activities on the world wide web since the early \'90s, in order to increase public access, not only to their collections and exhibitions, but also to the possibility of joint creation of the museological knowledge and cultural heritage. How the goals of art institutions in the use of cyberspace have evolved are analyzed through observation of the content provided on the net by various museums, national and international, related with articles about issues on contemporary museology. There is a growing effort to meet the cultural needs of the new spectators of internet connected age. Nowadays, virtual exhibitions models allow ephemeral art formats, such as performances or interventions, to effectively be part of the museum spaces. A new connection was created with the museum visitor, who can be anywhere in the world and, using social networks and mobile media, becomes a creator and disseminator of content, as well as a receiver. Finally, there is the observation on how, while adapting with the man\'s new relationship with art and culture through the virtual world, institutions should concern also about social responsibility and democratic access to culture for those who do not have frequent contact with new technologies.

Notre étude veut apporter des précisions historiques sur la scène artistique des années 1990 à partir d’un travail de critique d’art. Nous interrogeant sur la place de ce type d’écriture dans un contexte qui médiatise largement une crise de l’art contemporain dans l’espace public, nous examinons comment la remise en question de la modernité est propice à la création de trois nouvelles revues Documents sur l’art contemporain, Blocnotes et Purple Prose. La recherche nous porte à examiner les structures existantes dans lesquelles évoluent les différents acteurs du monde de l’art qui vont accueillir une nouvelle génération de critiques et d’artistes, - des centres d’art mais aussi de nouvelles galeries d’art symptomatiques d’un héritage culturel de décentralisation. Nous dégageons la spécificité de Blocnotes : le rejet des années 1980 et les repères historiques conceptuels des années 1960-1970, les rapports de l’art et du féminisme, la collaboration centrale des artistes, la réflexion sur l’exposition, l’objet fini, l’in situ et l’installation, le cinéma comme modèle. Loin d’une vision univoque de la décennie, nous redéployons des pratiques artistiques et leurs enjeux en nous plongeant dans les textes des nombreux contributeurs de Blocnotes tout en prolongeant par des entretiens des échanges entre critiques et artistes. / The study we are developing here wants to provide historical precisions about 90's artistic scene from an art critic's point of view. By questioning ourselves about the place of this type of writing in a context which widely mediates a contemporary art crisis in the public space, we would like to analyze how the questioning of modernity will be propitious for the creation of three new periodicals : Documents sur l'art contemporain, Blocnotes and Purple Prose. Our research leads us to study the existing structures that will welcome a new generation of critics and artists in which evolve various protagonists working in the field of art – art centers but also new art galleries symptomatic of a decentralized cultural heritage. We particularly enhance the specificities of Blocnotes : the rejection of the 80's and historico-conceptual markers of 60's and 70's, the relationships between art and feminism, the central collaboration of artists, the reflection about exhibition, finished object, the in situ and the installation, the cinema as a model.Remaining far off an unequivocal vision of the decade, we redeploy artistic practices and their issues by plunging ourselves in the texts of Blocnotes' numerous contributors while extending by interviews and exchanges between critics and artists.

This dissertation analysed the information needs and information-seeking behaviour of visual artists. An empirical survey was conducted on a sample of the more informationliterate visual artists in South Africa. A model of the information environment of South African visual artists was developed. This model provides a basis for another model which represents the optimal service that should be rendered to meet the needs of this user group. It was found that the general information needs of South African artists are fairly adequately met, but that there are several shortfalls, especially in serving their more complex information needs. The most important problems are the lack of training in the use of information sources and services, inadequate marketing of services and inadequate coverage of South African art. It was also found that greater coordination between service providers is urgently required, especially in the provision of information about South African art. / M. (Information Science)

This research examines how the practice of curating has been used to further counter-hegemonic agendas in public art institutions since 1989. The central aim is to provide a fuller, contextualised, and medium specific understanding of the how the institutional exhibition might be used to challenge the hegemony of neoliberalism and the post-political consensus politics that sustains its dominance. It provides insights, through both historic case studies and reflective practice, that problematise the idea that the institutional art exhibition is a viable medium for counter-hegemonic critique, or represents the ideal space for the development of an agonistic public discourse. This thesis presents collaborative research undertaken with Tate Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University. The research presented both extrapolated from, and contributed to, the development of an exhibition, co-curated with Tate Liverpool, entitled Art Turning Left (8 November 2013 – 2 February 2014) and a supplementary publication of the same name. The first section investigates how the idea that curators can counter neoliberal dominance, through institutional exhibition-making, developed. It draws from analyses of previous exhibitions, and the theory of Chantal Mouffe, in order to critically evaluate the curatorial application of counter-hegemonic critique and agonistic practice. It also provides a review of how exhibitions (held in major art institutions since 1989) have articulated politics, in order to determine their relationship to neoliberal dominance, and to identify significant gaps in the dialogue facilitated by these institutions. These analyses provides the theoretical and contextual grounding for the final two chapters, which provide a rationale and critical evaluation of my own attempt to develop an alternative counter-hegemonic curatorial strategy for the exhibition at Tate Liverpool. They document, and analyse, the areas of dissensus, and the ideological and pragmatic limitations that emerged, in trying to realise these theoretical propositions (in practice) in a public art museum. The thesis therefore provides a critical framework for the development of an alternative practice that positions the exhibition as a form of post-political critique and specifically targets the hegemonic role that institutional exhibitions play in reinforcing class distinctions and devaluing nonprofessional creativity.

A pesquisa observa as novas relações de produção e difusão da arte que surgiram com a utilização da internet e das novas tecnologias, pelas instituições culturais, para a expansão de suas atividades. A investigação propõe que essa nova forma de comunicação pode unir o alcance das plataformas virtuais, a credibilidade de grandes centros artísticos e a força dos processos colaborativos de criação em rede para ampliar a propagação da arte e da cultura. O estudo pretende mostrar como museus, galerias e instituições culturais em geral, têm desenvolvido trabalhos na world wide web, desde o começo dos anos 90, de forma a ampliar o acesso do público, não apenas a seus acervos e exposições, mas também à possibilidade de criação conjunta do conhecimento museológico e de nossa herança cultural. Através da observação dos conteúdos disponibilizados na rede por museus variados, nacionais e internacionais, relacionados a artigos sobre questões contemporâneas da museologia, são analisados como os objetivos das instituições artísticas quanto ao uso do ciberespaço têm evoluído. Há um crescente esforço em suprir as necessidades culturais dos novos espectadores da era conectada da internet. Hoje, modelos de exposições virtuais permitem que formatos de arte efêmera, como performances ou intervenções, possam efetivamente fazer parte dos espaços museológicos. Foi criada uma nova ligação com o visitante do museu, que pode estar em qualquer lugar do mundo e, utilizando redes sociais e mídias móveis, passa a ser criador e difusor de conteúdo, além de receptor. Por fim, há a reflexão sobre como, enquanto se adéquam às novas relações do homem com a arte e a cultura através do mundo virtual, as instituições devem se preocupar com a responsabilidade social e a democratização do acesso aos bens culturais por aqueles que ainda não tem contato frequente com as novas tecnologias. / The research points the new relations of production and dissemination of art that emerge with the use of the Internet and new technologies, by cultural institutions to expand their activities. The research suggests that this new form of communication can put together the reach of virtual platforms, the credibility of major artistic centers and the strength of networks for collaborative creation processes, to enlarge the propagation of art and culture. The study aims to show how museums, galleries and cultural institutions in general, have developed activities on the world wide web since the early \'90s, in order to increase public access, not only to their collections and exhibitions, but also to the possibility of joint creation of the museological knowledge and cultural heritage. How the goals of art institutions in the use of cyberspace have evolved are analyzed through observation of the content provided on the net by various museums, national and international, related with articles about issues on contemporary museology. There is a growing effort to meet the cultural needs of the new spectators of internet connected age. Nowadays, virtual exhibitions models allow ephemeral art formats, such as performances or interventions, to effectively be part of the museum spaces. A new connection was created with the museum visitor, who can be anywhere in the world and, using social networks and mobile media, becomes a creator and disseminator of content, as well as a receiver. Finally, there is the observation on how, while adapting with the man\'s new relationship with art and culture through the virtual world, institutions should concern also about social responsibility and democratic access to culture for those who do not have frequent contact with new technologies.

Brno will continue to be the city and the centre of the fairs. The historical part around the pavilion A is opened to public and the fairs are concentrated around the pavilion Z, where a new city entrance is planned within a linear park, also a new pavilion and a superstructure with residence of BVV is planned. Newly, the terminal Lipová is designed with the cableway station, which is not only an attraction over the valley of Pisárky, but also represents a form of transport to the campus Bohunice and back to the trade fair center. The design of an exhibition pavilion is situated in a part of Brno-Pisárky, in western area of BVV. The Pavilion contains an exhibition hall and an entrance edifice on a new axis directed from an Anthropos over an superstructure on a significant pavilion Z. The entrance edifice in a central of pavilion is surrounded by exhibition area and its centre is plaza with natural woody plants and colonnade. Entries are leaded on galleries on this level. Galleries are opened into the exhibition hall. A restaurant has a specific view on the dominant-pavilion Z. A visitor goes through the plaza and descends on monumental stairs to the pavilion Z into area of BVV in a primary direction. The visitor descents from the plaza over each galleries to the exhibiton area in a secondary direction. The proposal offers to the visitors and exhibitors not only gathering outdoor relaxation area on the plaza, but moreover interesting experiences from galleries. The total built area of the pavilion is almost equal to the exhibition area, because the design creates the entry level on the third floor. The new building meets the requirements of modern exhibitions and will be used for social and educational events - balls, weddings, conferences, cultural events - concerts, theater, opera performances and sports events. The Pavilion will be visited by inhabitents of all ages not only from Brno, from near and distant surroundings, but also by visitors from abroad.

(in English): The thesis presents overview of current state of museum libraries in Bohemia. It relies on the results of questionnaire specifically made for this purpose. Focus is also on library collections of museum libraries (acquisition, processing, accessibility and conservation), self-presentation of libraries on Internet, means of financing of such institutions and their activities. The thesis also overviews history of museum libraries on the case of four individual institutions, legal regulations pertaining to them and to their collections, as well as cooperation possibilities between other museum libraries, general libraries or other institutions. The thesis concludes with resume of strengths and weaknesses of current state of affairs in the field and anticipates future development of museum libraries. The text contains numerous charts and tables [Author's abstract].

The project includes a study of the urban redevelopment an urban public space, formerly a laundry service, in the central urban area. Conversion of this complex includes the revitalization and redevelopment of old buildings and surroundings, new buildings, open spaces for relaxing with a wide program of functions and services such as fitness, galleries, restaurants, office space, retail space, housing and loft living. The objects and surfaces are placed or created for an easy living for visitors and movement of pedestrians. An important part of the project is to address and transform the river embankment. The study takes into account all the specificities of contemporary architecture in the historic environment.