Hong Kong may be the museum capital of the world.
After nearly six years of planning and construction, its newest – the $390 million, Hong Kong Museum of History – has opened to the public. It is the last in a series of museums, cultural and scientific centers that has opened in the last dozen years and brings to nearly 20 the number of museums scattered throughout the territory.
Through 88,000 square feet of panoramic scenes, dioramas and multimedia presentations, the new museum presents an overview of 6,000 years of Chinese history, from prehistoric Hong Kong, a look at Chinese dynasties from the Han to the Qing, folk culture to the Opium Wars, Japanese occupation and the return of Hong Kong to China.
In fact the new museum is actually the second Hong Kong Museum of History. The first one, which it replaced, was a comparatively modest affair of 11,000 square feet located in an old British Army barrack building in Kowloon Park. Modest though it might have been, the old museum contained all the design features and content which were developed further in the new one: material on Hong Kong’s unique history presented through the use of ambitious display techniques to make usually dry historical information compelling to young and old, residents of Hong Kong, and the thousands of tourists who visit annually.
“Multimedia was a design element from the very start,” said Chris Sia of CPS Electronics, Vancouver, B.C. CPS was retained by the museum’s exhibit designers, J.J. Andre and Associates of Victoria, B.C., to do the multimedia design and specifications. “Andre and Associates believed that sight and sound was needed to appreciate Hong Kong’s story. From its wild, tropical natural history displayed through large dioramas, to its incredibly colorful and ceremonious tribal human beginnings which we hear in context and we see theatrically, to its modern development; movement, color, and sound have always described Hong Kong, it’s past and perhaps even more, its present.”
Theaters, sound zones, and lighting effects are involved in every one of the eight areas of the exhibit, sometimes with nothing more than a bird chirp, other times with large multi-screen video presentations. Of the latter, five theaters were fairly ambitious productions: the Physiography and Climate Theater (geological origins of Hong Kong), the Ethnicity Theater (describing the Hakka, Punti, and Hoklo tribes), Opium War Theater (contact with the West), 1960’s Cinema (growth of modern industry), and the Reunification Theater (the 1997 ceremony).
“At the outset, four Multimedia Issues were identified,” Sia said. “They were: 1, the theaters; 2, the environmental sounds in the dioramas and exhibit spaces; 3, the small videos in the exhibit spaces; and 4, coordination with the lighting system.” Coordination of the lighting system was essentially a control system issue. Sia’s design called for a number of areas where the lighting varied according to the sound and visuals timing. His objective was meant to create interest, and to highlight otherwise overlooked display elements and artifacts.
Items 2 and 3 were largely exhibit design issues. The content (either scientifically accurate sound scapes, or didactically correct information) had to be considered in the context of their practical and aesthetic fit within the exhibit space. Traffic flow issues and sound spill problems needed attention.
The first issue, dealing primarily with the five large theaters mentioned earlier, is where the multimedia system wanted to have it all: clean, clear, large pictures, accurate sound for clear narration, but none the less, making significant impact.
“But the theaters had less than ideal shapes for acoustics; Ethnicity and Opium War theaters were both semicircles facing the audience, possibly the worst shapes you could ask for.” Sia said. “Sound dispersing shapes and acoustic treatment was installed in all theaters. Speakers were placed and directed to minimize standing waves.”
To maximize the impact in the large theaters, Sia wanted high quality loudspeaker systems that would help overcome some the spaces’ inherent acoustical problems. He selected two Bag End Studio A systems per theater to include surround sound. Effects speakers in these spaces were the TA1200’s. In all, he specified a total of 28 BAG END systems.
Each BAG END Studio A system consists of a pair of factory matched and pre-set MM-8 Near Field Monitors, two D18E-I double 18 subwoofer systems, and an ELF-1 signal processor that gives the bass a signal response down to 8 Hz. The BAG END TA1200 systems are Time-Aligned systems containing a 12-inch woofer and a 1-inch exit titanium diaphragm compression driver with a frequency response from 70 Hz to 20 kHz.
Sia selected Haffler amplifiers to power the system and Pioneer DVD7400 DVD players to source the audio. All of the BAG END equipment was purchased through BAG END’s distributor in China, CAH Professional Sound Co. of Hong Kong, by Salon Films of Hong Kong, the multimedia producers. All of the theater presentations and small screen videos, as well as environmental sounds, were produced by Salon Films. Salon was responsible for all equipment procurement per the designer’s specifications, as well as the installation.
Both Sia and museum officials were pleased with the result. “The voice narratives were clear, and the music and effects sounds, particularly in the Geology theater where sounds of volcanic rumbles and tectonic shifts were being played, sounded full but still tight,” he said. “The initial fears of serious acoustic problems are not apparent.”
