Forest or museum? Trees at heart of competition-winning design to expand home of art in Lima

Forest or museum? Trees at heart of competition-winning design to expand home of art in Lima

Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos and Llama Urban Design have been declared winners of an international design competition to expand the Lima Art Museum in Peru.

The studios will develop a new public plaza and extension to the museum, including new galleries for its permanent collection, a library for 40,000 books, classrooms, a café and workshop spaces.

The competition jury received 387 entries from 56 countries, which was whittled down to a final shortlist of three. The runners-up were SMAR Architecture Studio and a team formed by Lopes Brenna, Moramarco + Ventrella and Filippo Bolognese.

Competing architects were asked to consider access to a future metro station and a landscape proposal for the site where the museum is located, which the City of Lima is prepared to develop to create a pedestrian corridor linking Lima’s centre with parks to the north of the museum.

The winning design takes inspiration from forests. Four delicate pavilions are scattered around the site, and visitors must walk through trees and thick vegetation to travel between them.

“The design is not about competing with the existing museum, but establishing a dialogue with it in a unifying ensemble, embedded in a carefully designed park,” said jury member Kristin Feiress. It is essential the new building is inviting for all generations and social backgrounds of people.”

Competition director Gary Leggett added: “We’re certain that the results will confirm the importance of public competitions in the transformation of the city”.

source : Clad