SmithGroup Releases New Book for Museum Professionals

SmithGroup is releasing a new book, Building a Museum: This is Not a Manual, intended for museum professionals. Written by four of SmithGroup’s cultural design experts, and published and distributed by ORO Editions, the book is a comprehensive guide to the museum capital project journey.

Building a Museum is written to assist museum professionals in navigating the complex process of planning, designing, and constructing a museum. In it, SmithGroup’s authors condense their collective decades of experience guiding numerous cultural institutions through successful projects, emphasizing best practices and offering recommendations to keep building projects moving through completion. The authors encourage collaboration and inclusivity in the process, emphasizing the importance of building a strong network and leveraging specialized professional expertise. 

Written as a user-friendly tool for museum leaders to easily understand every aspect of the building process, Building a Museum includes intuitive graphics and a handy glossary of architectural and construction common terms.  

Building a Museum aims to demystify the planning and design process, making it accessible and practical for museum professionals at any stage of their project. 

Learn more at https://www.smithgroup.com/buildingamuseum 

About the Authors

Jamē Anderson is a vice president and director of SmithGroup’s national team of architects, planners, and engineers who focus exclusively on cultural capital projects. Her career is dedicated to cultural institutions, having held roles at the National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian Institution in addition to her tenure at SmithGroup. 

Monteil Crawley is a senior principal at SmithGroup and a leading expert in the design of museums and cultural facilities, shaping a unique design vision for each facility and institution. He has spent his career with SmithGroup designing prominent spaces and places that celebrate and reveal the history and culture of the United States. 

Sarah Ghorbanian is a principal at SmithGroup who specializes in the planning and project management of complex cultural projects. She is an expert at coordinating the intersection of architecture and exhibition design to create compelling, holistic, and engaging experiences for museum audiences. 

Chris Wood is a vice president at SmithGroup and leads the firm’s Washington, D.C., studio of design and engineering specialists devoted to cultural projects. He leads design teams for cultural capital projects of all scales and is a recognized expert in the planning and design of museums and collections facilities.

About SmithGroup

SmithGroup is one of the most prominent museum architecture and engineering design firms in the United States. The firm’s cultural experts are renowned for designing dynamic, engaging spaces that enhance community identities and enrich visitor experiences.

As an integrated design practice, the firm leverages research, data and advanced technologies to solve the challenges of their clients and shape the future of museums. SmithGroup’s networked team of cultural designers specializes exclusively in the planning and design of museums, archives and collections facilities, visitor centers, children’s museums, science centers, university arts education environments, performing arts facilities, historic structures, and cultural landscapes.

For more than half a century, SmithGroup has delivered award-winning museum projects for some of the world’s most iconic places and prestigious institutions.

For more information about SmithGroup, please visit our Company Fact Sheet.