SANAA

Modern Art Museum (IVAM) extension . Valencia

SANAA . Tomás Llavador

The current building is mainly used for exhibitions. The extension proposed the addition of six more galleries to the seven that already exist, giving a total of 8,028 m² for exhibitions.

Opening the IVAM to the Barrio del Carmen was one of the main aims of the project, completing the existing leveled area in Guillem de Castro with a new public one in C/ Beneficiencia, linked by the museum’s main foyer. In addition, a pedestrian street was enabled in the south to externally connect the Barrio del Carmen with the former riverbed of the Turia river. Four entrances were proposed to the new IVAM: the existing one from Guillem de Castro and new ones through the pedestrian street and the Na Jordana and Beneficiencia Streets. The new public spaces were conceived so that visitors could move freely and enjoy the works of art and leisure areas. Visitors would be able to experience a new way of visiting a museum.
The entire proposal would have been covered by a perforated skin that would add volume to the building and create a space between interior and exterior protected from the elements. The skin’s transparency would have offered a changeable image of the project, according to the hour of the day and the light quality. The building would have increased its urban visibility and at night will be a real art lighthouse.