Not only must it strictly obey the laws of physics, protect art works from the elements, and accommodate people as well as art, but the space in which art is exhibited has a profound effect on the way that art is experienced. All these new buildings are often beautiful, noteworthy buildings, but like all art, hostile to 'other' types of art. Constructing a physical exhibition space is expensive and time consuming,and buildings are permanent.
Art museums are traditionally important reservoirs of culture.
For this reason, art museums are often grand buildings designed by prestigious architects. These spaces are designed to be permanent, which means that the popular aesthetic and functional ideologies supported by architecture at the time a museum is built, will impact the way art will be exhibited in the future. The grandeur, permanence, and expense that are inherent to physical exhibition spaces, form the basic framework within which curatorial practices have emerged and developed. In a culture where art is perceived as the product of genius, and as a luxury commodity, it is the elite few who decide what gets seen and what has value. In the large bureaucracy of an art museum, the role of the curator can become complicated by financial and political agendas that must be served.