MEGALITHIC MUSEUM

The Megalithic Museum is located at Mora’s urban centre, close to a future public park. The town and region, are well known for its archaeological findings. The museum intendeds to be a local and national reference and an important asset to the cultural regeneration of the town.

The old train station in Mora is an iconic building that is part of the town heritage. The building is deeply rooted in the long-lasting collective memory of Mora’ inhabitants and visitors. The project clarifies and enhances the architectural value of the existing buildings, in a gesture of careful refurbishment.

The museum complex integrates the old train station, its warehouse and two new buildings. The new buildings are the main exhibition area (West) and a cafeteria (East). The four buildings are connected through a continuous outdoor gallery that is located along the north side of the site. The gallery resembles the linearity of the old train station dock. The gallery is the element that conceptually unifies the project, solving the circulation and the relation between all the different programmes.

The main entrance is located at the old train station building as well as the library, IT room and administration areas. The warehouse was transformed into a multipurpose open space, being mainly an education workshop area. The design, materials and techniques used in the refurbishment process respect the character of the existing constructions.

The Metallic white panels that rap around the gallery space and the new buildings, were cut out with a geometrical pattern that is an interpretation of Megalithic iconography - a conceptual leitmotif - that aggregates the project and bring light into the space through the day. At night, the museum glows in the dark.

Exhibition design project for the new Museu do Megalitismo (Megalithic Museum) in Mora, Portugal. The exhibition design was developed in close partnership with Site Specific Arquitectura studio, and the museum building was designed by CVDB Arquitectos.

The main concept of the this intervention was the tridimensional build up of a scenography inspired by the technical markings made by archaeologists to define their archaeological excavations. The idea was to mimic the excavations' shapes and the terrain slope, in order to define exhibition zones, and also the circulation zones between them. This scenography gave origin to four volumes or exhibition zones, that materialize the exhibition narrative according to its original script.

The first volume/zone – Presentation – introduces the visitors into the exhibition, and, due to its inclined slope can also be used as auditorium by teachers or tour guides to make some presentations to a small audience.

The second zone – Life – has two separate compartments that resemble to dwellings. These compartments are used to explain the life of man during this historical period.

The third zone – Death – has a circular shape, inspired by the interior space of a dolmen, where the visitor can experience what would be these kind of spaces. There are also two niches containing a realistic model of the kind of constructions made at this time in this particular zone, and also a realistic figure (real size) of a man of this historical period.

The fourth and last zone – Beholding – has a closed room (for video projections), and also a stair access, to the more elevated level of the wooden structure, in order for the visitor to be able to behold the whole exhibition room from above.

Throughout this scenography, the visitor can find some displays with objects, graphics with complementary info, and also some interactive multimedia installations. The surrounding black walls have graphic communication about the museum, to give the visitor a better understanding about the overall context of this exhibition.