Revealing Urban Narratives

Abstract

This thesis reconceptualizes how visitors engage with street art in the STRAAT Museum in Amsterdam by designing an experience tailored to ‘explorers’, a visitor segment characterised by curiosity and a desire for discovery, as defined by Falk's visitor identity theory. STRAAT, a museum dedicated to urban art, faces the challenge of translating the spontaneous and public nature of street art into a structured indoor environment, without sacrificing its cultural impact and accessibility. This project aims to address this challenge by creating an immersive experience that resonates with explorers seeking hands-on, interactive learning in unfamiliar environments.
The research integrates Falk's identity-based visitor segmentation with the Relevance by Play framework (Vermeeren and Calvi, 2019) to design an experience that increases engagement. Through a literature review, visitor studies and interactive design sessions, the project developed two distinct concepts: In the Shoes of a Street Artist, in which visitors personalise and reinterpret artworks to foster a sense of creative belonging, and Echoes of the Streets, which combines artworks with sensory elements and symbolic artefacts to deepen thematic connections. Both concepts encourage explorers to engage independently, making personal discoveries in line with STRAAT's mission and the immersive qualities of street art.
Initial evaluations indicate the potential of these concepts to position STRAAT as a street art curatorial model that fosters exploration, personalisation and cultural relevance. Limitations include logistical challenges in integrating interactive digital elements within the vast museum space. Recommendations for the future suggest further testing to refine these elements and extend the digital experience beyond the museum visit. This thesis thus provides a framework for curating urban art in museums through visitor-centred design, enabling STRAAT to become a dynamic cultural hub that engages and transforms visitors into ‘explorers’ of street art.