Mali Museum Extension

Lima, Peru, 2017

In Collaboration with The NAO Office (Srjan Weiss), James Lee Dyson Architect, ARUP | Role: Design Team, Open Competition

This project was submitted for an international competition for an extension to the MALI Museum in Lima, Peru. The project called for new exhibition space and series of education spaces related to the museum, but required a solution that did not conceal the landmarked façade of the existing museum building, as well as the renovation of the public plaza on the site.

 We proposed a completely subterranean extension to the museum, with two discrete entry points that folded up from the new plaza. The plaza was perforated to allow daylight into the classrooms below, planted with new vegetation, and shaded by a canopy to temper the heat of the Peruvian climate. The canopy structure was designed to provide a lightweight counterpoint to the existing museum, while meeting stringent earthquake requirements.

 Upon entering the new extension, the visitor is able to descend via elevator or a monumental bleacher stair set within a double-height atrium exhibition space. Partway down the stair is a library and wing of classrooms, with a loop of exhibition spaces of varying scale and enclosure below. This atrium-exhibition space would be able to be used for events, performances, and informal gathering, a subterranean counterpoint to the plaza above.