On both the national and international level, Prof. Uwe R. Brückner is highly esteemed as an opinion leader in the area of museum planning and exhibition design. He is regarded as an expert on the development of narrative spatial concepts. On the basis of his philosophy of design encapsulated in the phrase “form follows content”, he has created more than 100 exhibition sets and experiential environments for museums and corporate brands. His creative aspiration is to use stories and content to form spatial works of art (Gesamtkunstwerke) that get right to the heart of the content and are able to address visitors emotionally and intellectually through all of their senses.

Most animals tend to molt. Zoological Museum of Moscow State University has also experienced kind of a molting process – a process of “external rebranding”, change of image and decorations, not affecting the structure of the main exhibition. It has become a serious challenge for the museum and required reconsidering of the most basic principles of the museum being – its goals, objectives, and mission. In the end it was a real introspection. At the lecture Mikhail Kalyakin, director of the Zoological Museum, will share his experience of “museum molting”.

Andrey Vovk is an architect and Director of the Ralph Appelbaum Associates’ (RAA) office in Moscow. He first joined to serve as Manager and Project Architect for the Jewish Museum and Tolerance enter in Moscow, which opened in 2012. His next assignment was Project Director of the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center and Museum in Ekaterinburg, Russia which became the Russian Federation’s first Presidential Center and most interactive museum. It was opened in November 2015.

Dmitry Selivohin is an architect and a founder of the «Narodniy Arkhitektor» bureau in Moscow. There are many realized projects in the field of museum design in the bureau`s portfolio. To mention just a few – the rebranding of the Schusev State Museum of Architecture and the Museum of the Contemporary History of Russia, the development of the navigation system for the Darwin Museum, the development of virtual museums for the World Ocean Museum and the Museum of the Contemporary History of Russia.

Hans Günter Merz, Prof Dr (hon), is a founder and director of hg merz architekten museumsgestalter. The office specializes in exhibition and museum design, visual communication, and media planning. In addition, HG Merz concentrates on renovating and enhancing significant historic buildings.

Volker Staab is an architect, founder and partner of the Staab Architekten studio, Professor at the Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany. Staab Architekten devote themselves to a broad spectrum of building tasks, ranging from new structures sensitively inserted in urban and rural environments to conversions and reinterpretations of listed buildings. Main areas of their endeavour are planning and execution of cultural institutions, facilities for research and education centres as well as museums.

Jeffrey L. Daly has wide ranging experience working as an exhibit designer, museum consultant and designer of new museum galleries. He was the Chief of Design and special advisor to the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 30 years (1979–2009).

Jeffrey L. Daly has wide ranging experience working as an exhibit designer, museum consultant and designer of new museum galleries. He was the Chief of Design and special advisor to the director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art for 30 years (1979–2009).

Daniel Libeskind is one of the most prominent and successful architects today. He is a founder and principal architect of the Libeskind Studio (New York, USA). An international figure in architecture and urban design, Daniel Libeskind is renowned for his ability to evoke cultural memory in buildings. Informed by a deep commitment to music, philosophy, literature, and poetry, Mr. Libeskind aims to create architecture that is resonant, unique and sustainable.

Since 2000 Elisabeth Topsøe has worked as an architect for museums in Denmark and abroad, including exhibitions of Matisse and Wilhelm Freddie at the National Gallery of Denmark, Cezanne and Giacometti at Louisiana Museum of Modern art DK and in same place, large scale biographic exhibitions on world known architects Jorn Utzon and Arne Jacobsen. Currently she is working on a new establishment of the fashion and textile collection in Design Museum Denmark as part of the reinstallation of the entire museum collection.

Peter Noever, designer, curator-at-large for art, architecture and media. From 1986 to 2011, he was Artistic Director and CEO of the MAK (Austrian Museum for Applied Arts / Contemporary Art), Vienna / Los Angeles.

Jean-Michel Wilmotte – French architect, town-planner and designer. Among his museum projects are architectural redesign of the Richelieu Wing of the Louvre (France), interior design of the exhibition halls in Musée D’Orsay (France), Department of Tribal and Aboriginal Arts in the Louvre (France), Museum of Islamic Art (Doha, Qatar), the Rijkmuseum (Amsterdam, Netherlands), restructuring of the existing building and design of exhibition spaces in the National Museum of Contemporary Art – Chiado Museum (Lisbon, Portugal), rehabilitation and redevelopment of an industrial building from the 1950s as Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art (Beijing, China).

Reiulf Ramstad Arkitekter have earned a reputation for creating bold, simple architecture with a strong connection to the Scandinavian context and the impressive Scandinavian landscape in particular. Common for all our projects are that they are driven by a genuine dedication to humanist values. RRA are authors of the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design in Oslo, new complex of Romsdal Folk Museum in Molde. They have developed projects for the National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design in Olso, Estonian National Museum, Jøssingfjord Museum, Borgarsyssel Folk Museum in Østfold (Norway).

Arne Kvorning will present projects by his Kvorning Design & Communication company with the focus on the concept development and collaboration between museums and designers. He will speak about the full process from a concept to realization.

Dr Stephen Cannon-Brookes is principal of CBL, a specialist lighting consultancy. His work is focused on lighting for museums and historic buildings as well as privately owned collections. Use of light in such environments requires careful and detailed integration of appearance and performance to create solutions tailored to the individual requirements of each project.

Jonathan Barnbrook is one of the most well-known graphic designers in Britain. Since 1990 he has worked with a mixture of cultural institutions, museum activist groups and charities as well as completing a steady stream of personal works.

Presentation of the new, unique project – The St Petersburg Biennale of Museum Design – which will use an extensive educational program and examples of the best museum design from both Russia and the rest of the world involving the use of the architecture and design to generate ideas and solutions for fitting out the museum environment, presenting the museum and its collection to the broad audience, and promoting museums’ products.