A Design for Jarusalem City Museum

A DESIGN FOR ''JARUSSALEM CITY MUSEUM''
(IN THE EYE OF A PUBLIC HISTORIAN)
In today's world, there is an increasing attention in the field of historiography. When we have look at a random book written on historiography, it is possible to see many different approaches on history and history writing methods from ancient methods to Marxist approaches, from Rankean historiography to Annals School. These variations come from how historians deal with history, and from where their windows look into the past. At that point, ''Public History'' can be mentioned as one of these newest styles. When it comes to how we can define public history, this sentence might be good enough for professionals in the field of public history that ''I know it when I see it.'' This may be seen as a provocative, short-hand and pornographic answer but it is really a good enough response explaining what public history is. That's why; public history emerged in the West and has developed mostly in the USA due to the characteristic of the Western societies. In other words, the West is a positivist ''eye civilization'' believing in an idea or something else if they see, and excluding spiritual looks. To conclude the introduction, it will be expository to mention about what public historians interest in, and how they overcome interests. As I mentioned above, public history describes the many and diverse ways in which history is put to work in the world. In this sense, it is history that is applied to real-world issues. Public historians came in all sizes and shapes, for example they call themselves historical consultant, government historians and museum professionals, among many other job descriptions. For the purposes of this paper, we will emphasize on the city museums.
Museums or muselogy is a very significant study field for a public historian. That's because, although public historians can sometimes be teacher, public history is usually defined as history beyond the walls of traditional classroom. Therefore they generally face with those who don't always remember their high school and college history classes fondly are often the same people who spend holidays, vacations, and their spare time seeking out history by choice: making pilgrimages to battlefields and memorials and visiting museums. At that point, the idea of city museum is an utilizable field for public history. When it comes to why I chose Jerusalem, Jerusalem is a very appropriate city for such a kind of work not just because of the importance of the city for all religions, but also thanks to thousands of years of the historical background of Jerusalem.
Design and Concept of the Museum
1. A view from the Mount of OlivesThe concept of the museum will involve three parts: The first is the discovery section; the teaching/learning section; and the third is the rediscovery section. First of all, people visiting the museum will browse around the old city with the help of a guide but without any information or explanation. Hereby they will meet with the city, and have an idea bout Jerusalem. Secondly, the other section will be to build a structure on a hill having a good Jerusalem panorama such as The Mount of Olives. It is possible to say that The Mount of Olives is an appropriate place to build such a building because it is an important mount for Islam, Christianity and Judaism because of some specific reasons, and also it is a place having an overlook on the Jerusalem. To cover the wall of the building it must be used a traditional material named as ''Jerusalem Stone'' because this will provide these museum to has a nice appearance which is compatible with the harmony of the city. The building should also have traces of different religions to attract more tourists. When it comes to the interior of the museum, I imagine a spacious saloon and small rooms around the saloon. In the main saloon, there will be a model of all old Jerusalem from a bird's eye view. In the saloon, the visitors will learn the story of whatever they see during the first discovery section with the help of a guide on the model. After this model, they will go to the small rooms to see the big models of some important works such as Aqsa Mosque, Western Wall, and Damascus Gate. In these rooms there will also e guides to tell them the specific features of these 2. A bird's eye view of Jerusalemworks in detail.
1. A view from the Mount of Olives
2. A bird's eye view of Jerusalem
Lastly, in the third section, they will leave the museum and go to rediscover the city on a pre-determined line by looking their notes. Thanks to these three sections, the visitation will be an efficient one. As a last note about the idea of city museum: We cannot learn a city without getting lost in the streets of the city.



What is Public History? from the NCPH
Ibid.