(Competition Project)

I was invited to participate in this competition along with five other prestigious international teams. The museum was located in a key part of the city, near the cathedral, on the border between the historic center and the modern buildings, on a challenging triangular plot. We had to adhere to very strict ordinances regarding total buildability, regulatory height, heights between floor slabs, maximum volumes, and natural lighting.

The fundamental idea of the project was zenithal lighting (Oberlichtsaal). Although there were two floors above the grand hall of the piano nobile, we achieved overhead lighting through a subtle play of transparencies and reflections. In this way, when we reached this floor via the grand staircase, we would have a clear idea of the museum as a whole.

The exterior image of the building responded more to the architectural environment (where some architectural relics of what was once a beautiful city were still preserved) than to the unpredictable contents of the museum. The sharp prow, pierced by two monumental arches, symbolized the gateway to the historic city and showed the "guts" of the interior. At the opposite end, the museum entrance projected toward the historic center and was sheltered by a canopy, which also created a terrace for the café.

This project received an accésit in the competition won by Hans Hollein; the Austrian architect and designer ultimately realized the project, and the result was not very different from my proposal.