Abstract

Architectural and design solutions have a significant impact on inclusion, experience, emotion, and learning in museum and exhibition contexts. The aim of this research is to seek and suggest ways of applying selected didactic principles to the design of the environment to promote effective and inclusive learning in an out-of-school museum setting. People’s attention is frequently distracted, and learning becomes more challenging; therefore, exploring spatial possibilities to enhance learning is a timely and relevant topic with implications for the whole society. In addition to museum architecture, the research is set in the field of interior design, exhibit design, and the micro-urbanism of adjacent exteriors, with attention to insights from educational sciences. Interventions of this exploration consist of research-by-design projects of exhibition elements and spaces, where selected didactic principles can be recognized in the design. Project interventions vary in scale and degree of implementation from conceptual proposals to completed solutions; therefore, comparisons are limited, yet interesting, as different case studies. The main research result is a summary of the examined spatial solutions in relation to the didactic principles, applicable with the greatest potential to support inclusive and effective learning in museums.