PROJECT FACTS
Function: art museum
Location: Bacoli (Italy)
Year: 2020
Type: international competition
This proposal redraws the spaces of the existing cistern and the new wing is a reinterpretation of the old ruin in a modern way. Though the roman cistern is mainly a closed and dark space, the new spaces are opened to the environment and the building has a pavilion-like look, although the materials are heavy. The spaces let free move for the visitors, and only the entrance and exit of the exhibition space are clearly defined. The square in front of the museum entrance can be used as an urban meeting point by the local people.
An urban square is design in front of the museum entrance, which is on a higher level than the street. From the square there would be a nice view to the Lake Miseno. On the other side the existing villa can stay there and the museum building reagates with its form to the existing building. There should be a small garden on this side of the museum.
The two existing stairs were one of the main source of the concept. The diagonal orientation of the stairs defines the entrance and exit of the exhibition space. In this case the visitors must go over the whole exhibition space.
The diagonal form of the extension mirrors the main idea of the proposal: to connect the two old stairs with each other. Because of this spacial system the visitors go through the book shop at the end of the exhibition. The proposal wants to build further the old stairs of the roman cistern. This solution protects the amazing space of the reservoir and gives new perspectives to discover the space. Under the huge stairs there are some storage spaces.
Thanks to the new stairs, it is possible to see the space from another perspective. In this museum the new movements of the contemporary art should be presented, which can strengthen the spacial perception of the roman cistern, too. This proposal shows a possiblilty, how can we imagine an exhibition as the “Weather-project” of the Islandic artist Olafur Eliasson, which he performed with light and fog.
ADAM BALOG 