Ralph Appelbaum Associates (RAA) has been working on community-driven design, developing museums together with the people they serve, for decades.
With case studies from RAA’s New York, Berlin and London studios, team members share with blooloop some of the lessons learned, insights and processes for designing public learning experiences developed collaboratively with their audiences.
RAA’s ethos
RAA is a multidisciplinary firm specialising in planning and designing museums, exhibitions, educational environments, and visitor attractions. Making emotional connections with audiences has been a central part of the firm’s ethos since its founding almost five decades ago.
“From the beginning, Ralph Appelbaum, [founder of RAA] pioneered a revolutionary approach, reshaping the role of museums to ensure that artefacts are not just displayed but presented with the rich context of people, communities, traditions, and cultures that bring them to life,” says Aki Carpenter, vice president and CCO.
Over time, as the role of museums and community engagement has evolved, the firm has prioritised creating meaningful, participatory experiences that reflect diverse voices. “At our core, we believe in co-creating with communities, foregrounding their stories, and actively involving them to ensure their histories are told authentically and respectfully.”
When this is successful, museums resonate with people; they see themselves in the stories and design. “This builds connections and makes the experience more relatable. It also invites dialogue, allowing museums to serve as platforms for meaningful conversations.
“While community engagement has evolved alongside institutions, our earliest instincts, imbuing objects with context and the stories of people, were our first steps in rethinking the role of museums and how collections are presented.”
Authentic community engagement
RAA is a content-driven practice, where content leads design.
“Content and community stories, whether ancient or contemporary, are at the heart of everything we do,” says John Blanchard, director of RAA’s London studio. “These stories aren’t just sources of inspiration. They shape the process, engage communities deeply, and ultimately serve as the foundation for the final experience.”
Community engagement and co-design have become industry buzzwords in recent years. Yet, this can often be a box-ticking exercise rather than including authentic engagement.
“Too often, communities are brought in for a session or two to fulfil a planning requirement,” he adds. “Instead, we embed engagement from the start, ensuring communities are active participants, not just consulted voices.”
RAA works on projects around the globe. Yet human-centred, community-driven storytelling is universal. “Cultural nuances must be respected. But at our core, we all share common challenges and opportunities. Our approach begins with building trust, listening, engaging, and ensuring equity.
“We focus on longevity, designing not just for opening day but for what happens in the long term. Content leads design, and stories endure beyond trends, making the work timeless.”
The challenges
Carpenter says that, historically, one of the biggest challenges has been overcoming the top-down approach in traditional museum design, where communities have not always had direct involvement. “This is changing rapidly, however. We’ve been fortunate to work with many clients who are ahead of the curve, seeing themselves as hosts for these conversations.
“We see our clients dedicating themselves to this from the start of a project, guiding the storytelling process in ways that inform design decisions.”
Many of the firm’s projects deal with difficult subject matter. This makes it even more important to ensure authenticity. “One of the only ways to do that is by empowering communities to be part of the process, sharing their voices, and ensuring we tell their stories in ways that are not only dynamic but also honest.”
By connecting objects with human stories, we transform museums from static repositories into dynamic spaces for meaning, empathy, and conversation.
Blanchard says competing for people’s attention is also a significant challenge in a fast-paced, entertainment-driven world. “But with every challenge comes an opportunity. Instead of seeing historic collections as outdated, we ask: How do we make them relevant today? How do they help us understand who we are, what we value, and how the past shapes our present and future?”
The key is to create powerful, emotionally engaging spaces that foster reflection, dialogue, and participation. This is where community-driven storytelling comes in.
“And ‘community’ isn’t just about geography. It’s global. By connecting objects with human stories, we transform museums from static repositories into dynamic spaces for meaning, empathy, and conversation.”
The National Museum of African American History and Culture
One key project for the US team was the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC).
“It made us think deeply about what it means to create a safe space for intergenerational conversations,” says Carpenter. “It pushed us to rethink how spaces can foster understanding and how history, culture, and community identity should be woven into our designs.”
“Over time, we’ve deepened our inclusive processes to ensure community engagement isn’t just an added step. It is genuinely embedded in the design process.”
One of the key lessons was moving beyond simply presenting facts to empowering communities and fostering meaningful conversations:
“We’ve learned how to integrate community voices in ways that allow them to take ownership of their narratives. For example, rather than just asking for aesthetic opinions, we shape our design thinking so that community input can directly influence exhibition design.”
What does community engagement look like?
The Smithsonian led much of the community engagement for NMAAHC, as it needed to build long-standing and trusted relationships with the community. RAA’s role was to help inform the questions being asked and how those conversations were facilitated.
“One of the ways we pushed boundaries was by rethinking how we built our team,” adds Carpenter. “As a large practice capable of navigating complex projects, we wanted to expand our team to include many people with lived experience to help shape the vision.”
Having the right perspectives in the room is fundamental to creating truly representative and resonant work.
“We made it a priority to serve as a platform to bring in diverse voices. Between insights from the Smithsonian and input from our broader team, we created an environment where listening, learning, and adapting our design were at the forefront. It was a deeply collaborative process, shaped by the people involved at every level.
“Having the right perspectives in the room is fundamental to creating truly representative and resonant work.”
The Obama Presidential Center
Also in the US, the RAA team is working closely with the [Barack] Obama Foundation to create the Obama Presidential Center.
RAA partnered with Civic Projects Architecture, a local public interest design firm led by Monica Chadha, to serve as the local firm and facilitate community engagement on the South Side of Chicago. Civic Projects Architecture is a Chicago-based practice that believes in each project’s potential to catalyse community activity and strengthen local bonds.
“From the beginning, the Obama Foundation has been ahead of the curve in defining what civic engagement looks like for a project like this,” says Carpenter.
The RAA and Civic Projects team has met with Chicagoans from all backgrounds to ensure the centre resonates with their history, experiences, and vision for the future. “Alongside the Foundation, we’ve hosted a series of community engagement sessions. We designed the first sessions as community conversations. We invited everyone from grandchildren to grandparents to engage in dialogue with us and the Foundation.”
Exhibition design and museum spaces have historically lacked diversity. So, part of the focus has been on who creates these projects and how:
“Community engagement is a conversation. It must be a two-way exchange. We can’t just extract insights from the community; we must also share knowledge. In those early community conversations, we shared basic project information. We introduced our team and partners, and worked to build transparency and trust.
“We wanted to demystify the roles of the teams making museums — archivists, creative directors, and others bringing the project to life,” says Carpenter.
Chadha adds: “Everyone brings expertise to the table. Learning from the communities we work in is important to our team and the Obama Foundation. The key for the design team is to reflect these shared experiences and values in the project’s design.”
The goal of the project
Carpenter says, regarding the vision for the new centre:
“We’re telling the story of President Obama and his administration, but it is essential that visitors feel connected to a larger purpose. It’s important to him that his story is told alongside acknowledging those who came before him, and encouraging visitors to reflect on their role in history.”
The team is focused on three goals: presenting the story of President Obama and his administration, placing it in the broader historical context, and fostering civic engagement, helping visitors understand how government works and how they can participate.
“Balancing personal history with a broader, more inclusive civic dialogue is one of the most exciting design opportunities. This project isn’t just about one person. It’s about the power of democracy, civic participation, and how individual agency leads to collective action. A key opportunity lies in designing spaces facilitating reflection, dialogue, and hands-on civic engagement.
“One important question we’ve explored is: how can visitors understand the work of a presidential administration if they don’t fully grasp how government functions? In today’s world, setting a foundation for that understanding is more important than ever.”
The Museum of the Viking Age
In Europe, the Museum of the Viking Age is a notable project that encompasses various strands of community engagement. It is connected with the Cultural History Museum at the University of Oslo. This was established in the early 1900s and houses Viking ships discovered in burial mounds across Northern Europe.
“The ships are over 1,000 years old, extremely fragile, and need preservation. The new museum’s purpose is to protect these artefacts while allowing for modern museum techniques, such as storytelling and interpretation, which were lacking in the original museum,” says Tim Ventimiglia, director of RAA’s Berlin studio.
The aim is to transform the space from a simple collection of archaeological artefacts into an immersive storytelling experience.
“It will stay rooted in the facts and the archaeology, but also engage visitors emotionally and empathetically. One of the biggest challenges is striking a balance between science and the need for storytelling, as there is a significant interest in Viking history, often influenced by fantasy. The museum must stay scientific despite the passion and sometimes misinformation around this topic.”
Community-driven design & talking to enthusiasts
During the design process, the client emphasised the importance of evaluation, engaging with the community, and talking to different target audiences.
“This was essential work as we wanted to diversify the target audiences who all have different expectations, learning styles and needs and also because if we didn’t involve the passionate Viking enthusiasts, they would likely become critics. They’re a very strong community, so we involved them in the process.”
Jessica Barlindhaug Angstreich, University of Oslo, the Cultural History Museum’s project manager for the permanent exhibition of the Museum of the Viking Age, says:
“Adding to their already solid knowledge, they share with other target groups the desire to get close to the impressive and authentic collection, thereby connecting to the Vikings. These insights have helped us make choices for the design, acting as efficient antidotes to assumption-based discussions.”
Together with RAA, Tamschick Media+Space (TMS) developed the scenography and multimedia elements to ensure that the exhibition features a diverse range of experiential formats. These include immersive, interactive, and analogue formats, among others. Each format required specific tests to ensure its effectiveness.
Different formats
Elisa Broß of Tamschick Media+Space, says:
“In collaboration with the curator and archaeologist from the Museum of the Viking Age, the TMS team prototyped several planned media experiences. Our goal was to find out, early in the design process, how effectively the public would engage with and understand the content we aimed to communicate.
“We set up a simple testing environment to explore various interactive elements, such as an interactive wall and a game. The curator invited participants of different target groups with varying knowledge about the Viking Age. They represented different segments of society: young children with their parents, teenagers, and “Viking experts” of all ages.”
“By testing these media experiences with members from each target group, we received direct feedback and valuable insights that helped us refine and enhance the design. It was also great to observe people interacting with the media experiences who are seeing it for the first time, and witness their behaviour and emotions.
“Overall, it is a great opportunity to engage the community and gain knowledge for the further design process.”
The university also played a central role, engaging students and teachers early on to gauge what they did and didn’t know and to identify any myths circulating about Viking history. In addition, RAA worked closely with local tourist agencies.
The project team also engaged with unique groups like historical reenactors and LARPers (live action role play).
The Focke Museum
Ventimiglia and the Berlin team are also working on the Focke Museum in Bremen, Germany.
“This museum project, for me, highlights how city museums are incubators of innovation and change,” says Ventimiglia. “They adapt quickly because they need to reflect the changing dynamics of their communities. City communities evolve faster than rural ones, and museums must keep pace with these changes.”
The main goal is to overhaul the museum’s permanent exhibition, particularly to address the inclusivity and representation of groups historically excluded from the narrative.
“The museum wants to retell the story of Bremen and its people, recognising the contributions of many communities that had been left out.”
Beyond this, the project also aims to make the museum more accessible.
“This means redesigning exhibitions with multiple pathways to learning. Not just through reading lengthy texts but through haptic experiences, audio, games, and other interactive methods. This commitment to accessibility and inclusivity has been a significant focus. The museum has spent much time conducting workshops with different groups to ensure we can embed these priorities into the design.”
Community-driven design to update a city museum
The community has had a lot of involvement in this process.
“The museum has engaged more diverse groups than I’ve seen in other European projects. It is a refreshing shift,” says Ventimiglia. In dynamic cities like Bremen, there are many minority communities whose stories must be told. These groups have contributed to the museum’s development, and their narratives are integral to the new exhibition.”
One key feature of the museum’s approach is its City Laboratory, a space dedicated to ongoing public engagement. “It’s not just a one-time event for exhibition planning; they regularly host workshops and community-curated exhibitions about various topics.
The project is currently in the final design phase. There are ongoing discussions about sensitive topics such as Nazi history and colonialism.
“The museum is engaging with its community to address historical wrongs, retell important stories, and make the museum a more inclusive, accessible space for everyone. That’s the direction they’re heading, and it’s an exciting and important project.”
The museum’s director, Prof. Dr. Anna Greve, adds:
“In developing the upcoming exhibition, collaboration with civil society is crucial for the Bremen State Museum. The Citizens’ Advisory Board, for example, are critical friends from the city districts who are looking at our plans, and the Inclusive Advisory Board, which was later established, advises us on developing inclusive elements.
“The exchange with experts on their own issues has also given us confidence in anti-racist curating and in presenting the topic of colonialism and its consequences. We have learned how important relationship building is. Every participatory project requires a leader who works on the topic with both mind and heart.”
Community-driven design with National Museums Liverpool
Meanwhile, in the UK, Blanchard and his team are working with National Museums Liverpool on two key projects.
“For the International Slavery Museum and Maritime Museum in Liverpool, our primary goal is rooted in the spirit of co-production. We share goals and a vision, not just with the museums and curators as our client, but also with the broader community, including the audience, visitors, and users.”
The voices of the curators, contributors, visitors, and academic input will all play essential roles:
“It’s a sensitive, challenging, and exciting process that takes time. Before we joined, National Museums Liverpool worked with the University of Leicester to analyse what community engagement means and start building the foundations of that model. We then helped refine and improve it based on community feedback.”
RAA brought experience from its work in the US. The team pushed for a creative ecosystem, ensuring it didn’t become just a tick-box exercise.
“National Museums Liverpool was already well-versed in community engagement. Part of the co-production process involved creating new staffing positions and a department focused on community champions. Many in the community had inherent distrust toward museums because they felt unrepresented and saw them as dusty relics. So, our goal was to make them more relevant.”
Blanchard envisions the community-driven design model as a round table, where everyone has an equal seat and voice. “Everyone brings their perspectives, and we all respect each other’s expertise.”
The project team has held town hall-style events, interactive workshops, focused sessions on narrative, themes, interpretation, and design charrettes.
“The key is to make the output of these face-to-face engagements transparent, accessible, and visible to the community. Communication channels must stay open, with trust and respect fuelling the entire process.”
Challenging conversations
The International Slavery Museum has difficult stories to tell.
“The curators are deeply engaged at an academic level. The intensity of the research goes beyond just telling a story. It’s about addressing a fundamental part of human history,” says Blanchard.
This project has the potential to shape the foundations of this country and the institutions still operating from that era. The stories start with the research and curators, and there has been innovation in how the project team has approached it, inspired by West African storytelling traditions.
One key factor is understanding who the story is for. While it’s for the African diaspora first and foremost, it’s also for the community, the city of Liverpool, the nation and the world.
“One key factor is understanding who the story is for. While it’s for the African diaspora first and foremost, it’s also for the community, the city of Liverpool, the nation and the world. Some of the content will emotionally challenge visitors. From a democratic planning perspective, we’re working with the community to position this content in a way that does it justice.
“It’s a privilege to work with these communities and help amplify their voices. There’s a vibrant culture, both before and after this painful and traumatic history. We aim to honour that by incorporating moments of celebration alongside the difficult truths.”
Belfast Stories
Over in Northern Ireland, Blanchard and the UK team are also part of the project team for Belfast Stories. This new museum will explore the city’s past, present and future.
“Belfast Stories is not just our vision; it’s a collaborative effort with a big team. What I love about the project is that there’s nothing like it. There’s no single benchmark in the world you can compare it to. It’s in a city with a unique history, shaped by the undercurrents of the Troubles, and a complex past.”
From the outset, the project has been developed through close community engagement. “When we first arrived in Belfast, we met with the client for about an hour, and then we were sent across the city in teams. We visited places such as The Spectrum Centre on Shankill Road and An Droichead, an Irish language organisation located south of the city. We’ve been doing that ever since.”
The museum is currently in the public consultation phase. At the heart of the project is a love for Belfast, its people, and its stories. “The project will embody the unique spirit of Belfast, telling stories through various methods and experiences to connect local and international visitors with the city and each other.
“In short, while it can be seen as an introduction to Belfast, it will be much more complex, rich, and full of surprises. This project will have a strong sense of discovery and intimacy.”
Community-driven design and the future of museums
Cultural spaces as catalysts for change is a key theme running through all these projects, from Washington D.C. to Bremen.
“Communities want these spaces to spark positive transformation,” says Blanchard. “Another theme is ongoing engagement and impact, where cultural spaces foster long-term programmes and initiatives. This includes ongoing storytelling projects and bringing more uses to continue the positive impact of the cultural space on the community.
“We focus on narrative spaces—cultural spaces that inspire and connect, serving as dynamic platforms for stories, where creativity and heritage can take root, flourish, and leave lasting legacies for the communities.”
Looking to the future, Carpenter says the role of museums as hosts and platforms will only continue to grow.
“These spaces will increasingly serve as places for dialogue, action, and social change while preserving and presenting histories authentically. In many ways, museums are among the last bastions of truth and knowledge. That’s a responsibility all museums should take seriously while also evolving to meet visitors’ expectations for more participatory and responsive experiences.”
She also hopes to see a greater focus on addressing complex topics and presenting multiple viewpoints, ultimately fostering empathy and emotional connections between people. “The goal is to provide information that encourages visitors to be more mindful of the world around them.
“For me, the real opportunity is finding ways to instil a sense of responsibility and agency, inspiring people to imagine a more just future deeply connected to the histories these museums share.
“That’s the direction I hope we’re moving toward.”
Museum trends
For Ventimiglia, one of the significant driving forces in museums is the need for sustainability.
“Of course, there’s the environmental aspect, but there’s also a social side to sustainability, which is equally important. It’s about adaptability, being able to reflect change and evolve. For museums, this is a significant challenge.
“Many museums were designed in the 19th century to be permanent, fixed entities that should never change. However, museums need to incorporate flexibility and agility to be truly sustainable. There must be an internal culture where change is embraced rather than resisted.”
He highlights that terms like ‘permanent exhibitions’ are being questioned:
“Nothing is truly permanent, so why not rethink how we design exhibitions? We must create spaces and installations that can evolve, whether refitting a showcase with new content, updating a media program with a fresh narrative, or designing entire installations that can be taken down and recycled into something else.”
Alongside sustainability, the issue of inclusion is paramount. “Public museums, in particular, have a duty to serve the entire community, and that community is diverse, with diverse needs and challenges.
“Museums must reflect that diversity and strive to be inclusive in every aspect of their design and operation.”
How can museums stay relevant to their communities?
In the future, Carpenter says that museums need to build strong values and ensure that their programmes and exhibits not only reflect those values but also reinforce them for the communities they serve.
“While many museums already engage with cultural conversations, social movements, and current events, it’s vital to remain deeply connected to the ever-evolving landscape of today. By looking back at history, linking it to the present, and reflecting on our roles within it, we create a narrative that resonates.
“At the heart of this is cultivating long-standing, trusting relationships with communities. True, ongoing involvement allows a museum to stay responsive, relevant, and impactful, ensuring that its work not only addresses community needs but also nurtures their aspirations, empowering them to shape the future.”
