The Ateneo de Madrid Entrance Hall was a competition entry to re-imagine an existing classical museum entry hall into a contemporary, simple, elegant, & inviting clean gallery space. Dominated by an overriding sense of formality & heaviness from an earlier period as expressed through its large exposed stonework, rich dark woods, & original wrought iron staircase, our design objective was to transform the formal entry of the past into a transmutable & timeless space.

The blank canvas created is a “tabula rasa” lying in hope and anticipation of the creator. It is a room redefined by the simple extrusion of the notable “arch”, its underside placed into flux by the introduction of unbounded, imagery, sound and light. While the architectural past is presented as reminiscent with the remaining vocabulary of the existing staircase, relocated statues, exterior iron work and unmolested limestone exterior elevation; the space now has transformed, becoming both a “jewel box” and “stage” where the artist, the writer, the musician, and the scientist are incorporated and included among and within the architecture. The space holds firmly to “nothing” and promises to participate with everything; the choice is at the whim of the composer and orchestrator, interpretation remaining to be written.