Counter-Museum

Rory Hyde

Studio Description

In this thesis studio we will imagine a new kind of museum.

Behind the grand facades and blockbuster exhibitions, the museum has a dark history. Many of the objects it contains were acquired through conflict, and many of the stories it tells are intended to reinforce this dominant colonial view.

What if we could imagine a new kind of museum? A museum founded not on extraction and plunder, but on community and inclusion? A space to imagine new futures and reconnect with our pasts? A place where people can tell their own stories through objects? This new kind of museum would be almost opposite of the museum as we know it today – a counter-museum.

Studio Outcomes

We will learn about the history of museums, as institutions, as places of memory, and as pieces of architecture. We will be guided by talks from curators, visits to galleries, readings on decolonisation and museum design, as well as our own experiences of museums.

This studio will require a high degree of independence and creativity. Students will be given a site in Carlton, as well as a museum object, as a starting point. From there

Students will be given an object as a starting point, and from there will develop their own design brief and select their own site.

The format of the studio is driven by collective exploration, with an emphasis on peer critique. We will be running various group exercises, workshops, and presentations, to create a supportive and collaborative space of experimentation.

Studio Leader/s

Rory Hyde is Associate Professor in Architecture, Curatorial Design and Practice at the MSD, and coordinator of Design Thesis.

He was previously the Curator of Contemporary Architecture and Urbanism at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where he curated and designed numerous exhibitions.

He has worked extensively in practice internationally, including for OMA/AMO, MVRDV and ARM. He is the author a number of books, including Future Practice (2013) and Architects After Architecture (2020).

Readings & References

Marcia Langton & Judith Ryan, 65,000 Years: A Short History of Australian Art, Thames & Hudson, 2024

Francoise Verges, A Programme of Absolute Disorder: Decolonizing the Museum, Pluto Press, 2024

Alice Proctor, The Whole Picture, 2020

Andras Szanto, Imagining the Future Museum, Hatje Cantz, 2022

Andras Szanto, The Future of the Museum, Hatje Cantz, 2020

Charles Saumarez Smith, The Art Museum in Modern Times, Thames & Hudson, 2021

Michael Brand, The Sydney Modern Project, AGNSW, 2022

Claire Bishop, Disordered Attention: How We Look at Art and Performance Today, Verso, 2024

Brook Garru Andrew & Jessica Neath (eds), Marramarra: Indigenous Artists Making History Visible, NewSouth, 2024

Dan Hicks, The Brutish Museums, 2020

Mati Diop, Dahomey, feature film, 2025

Jeremy Deller, Art is Magic, 2023

Julian Lucas’ writing in The New Yorker

Schedule:
Wednesday 9am-1pm in MSD 142
Thursday 12pm-2pm in MSD 238 

Off-site Activities:
TBA

Contact Handbook