The project of the new Geology Museum Progreso was conceived as a cultural element as well as a public space, both developed as a single project. The different parts of the program are consciously related to each other and to the context through different environments in the open space.
The square generated by the project is organized on the sides of a central corridor, through which you can access both the interior spaces and cross the square towards the boardwalk accompanied by gardens and fountains. Two large raised gardens flank the corners of the square, allowing you to walk down the slopes to enjoy new views at different heights. A contained square generates a landscaped path in front of the public service spaces, which now enjoy a green and shaded area. The museum's cafeteria and workshops are separated from it to provide service to the entire square, thus allowing the connection of the different activities that the project allows and involving the museum’s daily life with the urban dynamics of the city.
The museum -which occupies the southwest corner of the square- consists of eight exhibition volumes which can be subdivided into two larger volumes to allow a permanent exhibition space, as well as a multipurpose space to hold events or temporary exhibitions. This cluster is served by a volume of offices, a volume of research and catalog spaces, and a warehouse. Volumes of different heights are scattered covering the square, allowing to create covered habitable spaces and a roof that can be crossed from corner to corner, with landscape elements.
The design of the volumes and their arrangement in the public space generate paths accompanied by light, shadow and vegetation that give the square a new character rich in experiences that evoke ideas of Mayan architecture along with the colonial heritage of the urban layout. The materiality of the museum, covered entirely in chukum (a natural finish of Mayan origin) ensures its durability and low maintenance cost. The museum consciously synthesizes local Mayan knowledge with contemporary architectural approaches, thus generating a new identifiable and appropriable public space for the people of Progreso.
