Here’s something I’ve been seeing a lot of in city museums: street signs in the lobby. I took this photo at the Museum of London in February:
Museum of London, Street Signs in Lobby
And here’s one from the Chicago History Museum:
Chicago History Center, Street Signs in Lobby
And the Centre d'Histoire de Montréal; not quite the lobby but just off it, at the start of the permanent exhibition:
Centre d'Histoire de Montreal
I’m not saying it’s necessarily a bad idea, mind you. Street signs can be very evocative, particularly when they are from streets we have walked a thousand times. But have city museums become formulaic? And would it be more effective to bring the museum to the streets, instead of the other way around?