magalhães . soares . vergueiro

Olympic museum competition . Athens

source: courtesy of filipe magalhães . ana luisa soares . andré vergueiro

It would be tempting, and almost mandatory, to elect the acropole as the main reference for this project. nevertheless, the origin of the concept considers a larger aproach and interpretation of the city. while looking to athens i retain this image of different blocks: white, monolithic, dynamic, united by the most varied urban networks, showing disconexion and yet visualy united. this image may be just a personal interpretation, however this interpretation is the concept of the proposal. the project appears as a single atrium extended across the ground. this space becomes fluid and finds itself punctuated by several rooms that organize the program. accepting a square plan, this volumes extend themselves to the outside as white anonymous monoliths. extruded like this, a clear yet abstract outer space emerges, composed by blind volumes of rude white texture, dialoguing among themselves and with the city. the space around the white beings acts as part of the city and not as a museum’s private alley, resulting in constant crossings, pedestrian pathways and a place that isn’t a museum but reflects it. the interior supports the roots of these monoliths showing them white and geometric in contrast to the other curved and black surfaces. the atrium is reflected inside in the same way as on the outside, in a healthy game of positive and negative volumes. the city skyline is re-interpreted. the identity of the proposal is the city's identity. white, geometric, and precursor of stories, equalities, relationships and contrasts. the proposal is just another element of athen’s day-to-day dynamic.