Madinat Al-Zahra is a palatial city built by AbdRahman III in the outskirts of Cordoba in 936. The archaeological site is listed as a Cultural Well, in the Monument category since 1923, despite that only a small part of the city has been excavated so far.
On October 9th 2009, the Museum of Madinat Al-Zahra was inaugurated, aiming to equip the archaeological site with the appropriate services, according to its historical and artistic importance. It is situated next to the site and within such diverse uses as visitors reception, archaeological restoration, auditorium, storage for its own archaeological pieces, historical-artistic research offices, a library, cafeteria, bookstore, and the exhibition area which displays the most spectacular pieces found on the site.
The exhibition project had to adapt the building for proper display of the pieces removed from the site ,and explain the features and development of Madinat Al-Zahra in the context in which it occurs, following the content program provided by the Museum. Exposure had to be visually appealing, without losing rigor and ensure the perfect conditions for conservation of the pieces, and should be achieved through an attractive museography, adequately dialoguing with the planned building.
The aim is that visitors enjoy their learning, based on curiosity and personal search for answers and questions. The proposal uses the surprise and mystery, with turning circulations, requiring imagination development, something which is specific to the culture that is presented. From afar one perceives fragments of spaces and situations, only eventually discovered as a whole at the end of the route.
After having studied the content program, we believed that the architectural language should be formally austere, in order to serve as a background and support for each one of the modules, without falling into strident temptations, closer to other temporary museological approaches.
Thus some elements are constructed with an architectural accent focusing attention and formalizing an "Architecture within the Architecture" providing suitable channels of scale and relationships between container and contents, aiming to prepare the proper contemplation of funds. These constructions visually fragment the space and stimulate visitors' curiosity over his visit to the museum.
The resources are based not so much on an exaggerated technology, as in the balanced use of traditional resources (sometimes obscure ingenious solutions), updated with nowadays available means.
AWARDS
AGA KHAN DE ARQUITECTURA 2010 AWARD
EUROPEAN MUSEUM OF THE YEAR 2012 AWARD
