STUDIO BASEL
Museum Consulting & Exhibition Design in Florida
Collections become stories.
Spaces become experiences.
Based in Tampa, Florida, Studio Basel works with museums and cultural institutions on museum consulting, interpretive planning, art exhibition consultation, and exhibition design. We bring curatorial ideas, spatial design, graphics, and media into one clear visitor experience.
We connect museum strategy with the practical work of making it real. Curators, designers, content specialists, and technical teams share a clear direction, so the institution’s purpose carries through every gallery, object, label, and interaction.
Meet the consulting team →From the first idea to opening day.
Museum Consulting & Strategy
Master Planning, Reimagining & Purpose-Built Design. Feasibility studies, audience research, gallery design and master planning, and long-term strategies for new museums, expansions, renovations, and institutional renewal.
Curatorial Development
Stories That Give Museums Meaning Themes, storylines, narrative arcs, object-selection frameworks, and interpretive approaches grounded in scholarship and community perspectives, ensuring every design decision begins with the story.
Content Development
Research Transformed into Engaging Content. Research, narratives, labels, panels, publications, and digital media developed with clear content hierarchies, accessible reading levels, and bilingual capabilities.
Space Planning & Visitor Experience
Designing the Journey Through the Museum. Gallery layouts, circulation, pacing, accessibility, security, capacity, and visitor flow carefully planned to shape how people move, pause, discover, and connect. Ask about our Audience Assessment.
Museum & Exhibition Design
Display systems, cases and curios, scenography, materials, mounts, lighting, and environmental design developed from initial concept through detailed, fabrication and installation.
Graphics & Spatial Identity
Interpretive graphics, environmental design, typography, donor recognition, wayfinding, and intuitive visitor orientation, including sophisticated bilingual graphic systems.
Artifact Photography & Documentation
Condition-conscious object photography, collection records, catalogue and publication imagery, and digitization for archives, loans, and conservation.
Media & Immersive Technology
Captivating film, audio, interactive media, projection, virtual reality, and immersive experiences that extend the exhibition beyond the object and create deeper, more memorable audience engagement.
Fabrication & Installation
We collaborate with leading fabricators nationwide or your preferred vendors to manage prototyping, material approvals, fabrication quality control, lighting focus, installation, and final detailing through opening day.
Culture, collections, and ideas
made tangible.
Here is a sample of some of the museum environments, exhibitions, brand identity, and immersive projects we have worked on.
Shared expertise.
Exceptional creative direction.
Curatorial thinking, architecture, exhibition design, and visitor engagement brought together around the needs of your project and institution supported by our extended Studio Basel team and a network of specialized experts brought in as needed for each project, including conservationists, historians, curators and other subject-matter professionals.
Lina Ali
Lina Ali is a Harvard and Smithsonian trained museum strategist, curator, and cultural heritage professional with extensive experience in museum master planning and development, exhibition strategy and design, curatorial practice, interpretation, visitor experience, and cultural programming. She brings a multidisciplinary perspective shaped by more than two decades of work at the intersection of museums, culture, education, and community engagement. As a Museum Director and Chief Curator of a cultural heritage museum, Lina has led major exhibition initiatives, collection management projects, international cultural collaborations, and innovative public programs. She holds an MA in Museum Studies from Harvard University and a BSc in Management from Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia.
Basel Almisshal
Basel Almisshal is an award-winning architect, artist, and museum designer with more than 20 years of international experience in architecture, exhibition design, museum environments, and visual communication. His practice brings together curation, design, graphics, media, and storytelling under a unified creative vision. His work includes projects with institutions such as the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, Tate Britain, the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia, and the International Museum of Muslim Cultures. Through Studio Basel Museum Consultants, Almisshal transforms ideas and stories into distinctive immersive experiences and thoughtfully designed spaces that engage audiences through architecture, art, technology, and design.
Dr. Esam Alhadi
Dr. Esam Alhadi is an accomplished Fulbright Specialist, archaeologist, cultural heritage specialist, and 16-year University of Florida academic with more than four decades of international experience spanning America, Africa and the Middle East. His expertise includes cultural heritage preservation, museum management, curatorial practice, research and archives, supervising archaeological fieldwork, and designing educational and community-engagement initiatives for public audiences. He brings a strong record of connecting academic scholarship with the work of museums, archives, universities, and cultural institutions to document, preserve, interpret, and promote cultural, geological, and archaeological heritage.
Alli Matlesky
Alli Matlesky is a Harvard and Smithsonian trained museum professional with more than a decade of experience spanning museums, cultural institutions, and international nonprofits. She specializes in storytelling, museum management, strategic planning, advancement, donor engagement, and visitor experience. Her experience at the Smithsonian includes work at the intersection of institutional strategy and public engagement. Alli's work focuses on creating meaningful connections between visitors and subject matter, shaping memorable, informative, and welcoming experiences for diverse audiences. Alli earned undergraduate degrees with honors in International Studies and Environmental Studies from American University in Washington, DC.
Fatema Almalood
Fatema Almalood is a visual experience designer and exhibit developer specializing in museums and cultural destinations. She combines visual communication, spatial storytelling and interactive learning to create immersive visitor experiences. Her experience includes designing Bahrain’s national interactive science centre, Dubai’s Quranic Park and The Dubai Frame galleries. She has completed graduate coursework at Georgetown University and holds a BA in Graphic Design, Fatema is a co-author of Amplifying Informal Science Learning, published by Routledge in 2023. Her practice connects design, education and culture across museums and civic destinations.
We create compelling cultural experiences that are thoughtful, inclusive, visually engaging, and grounded in authentic storytelling.
Can you guide a project from concept to opening?
Absolutely. Studio Basel provides end-to-end project leadership, guiding clients from vision and concept through planning and curation, design, content development, media and graphic design, fabrication, installation, and final opening while keeping quality, budgets, timelines, and communication on track.
Can we commission a focused part of the work?
Yes. Your project can address a particular need, such as a feasibility study, gallery renewal, interpretive content, visual identity, or collections photography. The work is coordinated with your existing team and the wider visitor experience.
How do you work with curators and institutional teams?
At Studio Basel we work collaboratively and as an extension of your team, respecting the expertise and vision of curators, leadership, and subject-matter specialists while bringing our own expertise in museum strategy, design, interpretation, and visitor experience. Through clear communication, shared milestones, and an organized project process, we translate institutional goals and curatorial ideas into compelling, cohesive experiences without losing the integrity of the story.
Do you develop multilingual interpretation?
Our content and graphic design scope includes bilingual English-Spanish, English-French and English-Arabic development, typography, and calligraphy, with clear and accessible reading levels for different audiences.
What should we share to start a conversation?
We would love to hear from you. Please share your institution or project, location, collection or subject, audience, available space, target opening date, and any established budget or brief. Thank you.
Plan your next museum or exhibition.
Whether your institution is planning a new gallery, renewing a permanent exhibition, or presenting an art exhibition, the first step is a clear brief: who the experience is for, what it should communicate, and how it will work within your space, budget, and schedule.
Museum consulting & interpretive planning
Define the purpose, audience, narrative, and project priorities before detailed design. Connect the institution’s mission and collections with a clear visitor journey.
Exhibition & spatial design
Develop the gallery layout, display approach, graphics, lighting, and media as a coordinated experience. Plan how the exhibition will be produced and installed.
Art exhibition consultation
Bring the curatorial concept, artwork presentation, interpretation, and spatial sequence together. Establish the visitor experience while keeping the institution’s curatorial direction central.
What to include in your project brief
Share your institution and location, the project’s purpose and audience, the space or collection involved, your target opening date, and any known budget range or procurement requirements. An early idea is enough to begin a conversation.
Based in Florida, USA, Studio Basel welcomes conversations with museums and cultural institutions around the world.
Discuss your museum projectHave a museum, cultural space, exhibition, or community project in mind?
Let's talk.
Whether you’re developing a new museum, reimagining an existing space, planning an exhibition, or looking for a fresh perspective, we’d love to hear about your vision. Tell us where you are in the process, what you’re hoping to achieve, and where you need support. Studio Basel brings strategy, storytelling, design, and creativity together to help turn ideas into meaningful experiences.
Start a project