Beyond the white cube: a practice-oriented theory of the art museum

Purpose This article develops a practice-oriented theory of the art museum to address the tension between traditional institution-focused theories and the need to attract a diverse public. It posits that a museum's function emerges dynamically from visitor practices, with value co-produced through the interplay of visitor behavior and service design, rather than being institutionally predetermined. Design/methodology/approach A structured, participant observation study was conducted across 30 geographically and typologically diverse art museums. Data from field notes, visual documentation and archival materials were analyzed using a three-stage grounded theory approach (open, axial and selective coding) to identify and categorize core visitor practices. Findings The analysis reveals four distinct, co-existing visitor practices: (1) Aesthetic Wandering (contemplative exploration), (2) Goal-oriented Learning (structured education), (3) Social Performance (identity performance and sharing) and (4) Community Use (utilizing the museum as a “third place”). These practices emerge through interaction with service design: Aesthetic Wandering is facilitated by white cube spaces, Goal-oriented Learning by interpretive technologies, Social Performance by immersive installations and Community Use by amenities and policies. The white cube service design partially supports the first two but is largely incompatible with the latter two. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on a sample of museums primarily from Los Angeles and Seoul, limiting generalizability. Future research could examine museums in other regions and adopt a temporal perspective covering pre- and post-visit experiences. Practical implications The typology provides a blueprint for museums to evolve beyond the white cube. It advocates for a modular service design that creates distinct zones and phygital integrations to simultaneously support all four practices, transforming museums into dynamic, multi-modal platforms. Originality/value This study moves beyond institution-centric and broad “edutainment” models by offering an empirically grounded typology of visitor practices. It reframes the visitor as an active co-producer of the museum experience and extends service-dominant logic by operationalizing co-creation through four distinct practice types. The typology provides a diagnostic framework linking practice observation to service architecture, enabling museums to design services that support the full spectrum of co-existing practices.