Museography and Seismic Hazard: the design project of the Majolica Room, National Museum of Bargello, Florence

Museum collections need to be protected, stored, and exhibited. According to the object characteristics, there might be conservative and safe actions to adopt, but the setup is rarely anti-seismic. Once evaluated the vulnerability of objects and settings, what are the preventive measures against these potential damages? Focusing on museography, can museum displays be both safe and coherent, according to updated exhibiting criteria? Can museography integrate with seismic prevention and museum policies? How can safety solutions and exhibit design be combined in existing setups or temporary exhibitions? How do exhibit design, safety, and economic sustainability combine with the ever-changing museum trends and needs? These questions have been raised inside the multidisciplinary research 'RESIMUS–Resilience Museums' of the Department of Architecture (DIDA) of the University of Florence. Within the research, we developed a method of analysis to grade the vulnerability of both museum collections and setups (Viti 2018). We worked out a synthetic system of classification of objects and exhibitions that allows a qualitative and comparative evaluation of: building, setup, and object. We tested it for the National Museum of Bargello case study in Florence. As second, the RESIMUS research foresaw the development of an anti-seismic museum exhibition. According to the 'learning by doing' approach, the design project is meant to be an instrument of research (Postiglione, 2012). The paper presents part of the ongoing project about the re-design of two rooms of the Bargello. The contribution illustrates the study's steps, results from the RESIMUS form, the methodologies applied, and the anti-seismic design proposition. It also presents the fundamental preparatory aspects preceding the designing step: the study of the museum references, the analysis of the case studies regarding the museum design solutions, and the technical examples (cases, pedestal, mount, etc.). It deals with the narration about the ceramics on show, the technologies, and the public's experience in the museum.