The NAMS stands abstract, an archetypical prism
THAT REVEALS ITS INSIDE DIFFERENTLY, DEPENDING ON THE WEATHER CHANGES AND THE EVER-CHANGING MUSEUM ACTIVITIES
Client PPEL
Location Sparta (GR)
Size 7.690 sqm
Program Culture
Status Competition
Year 2019
Project Team: Parallel Collective
The site of NAMS is a layering of cultural traces, a puzzle of different eras. Our proposal brings hierarchy between existing and new elements while transforming the site area into a tool for further exploration.
The museum presents itself as an Ark, enclosing the archaeological findings and the scientific knowledge inside. Three distinct parts – a base, a body and a top – are hosting the storage, laboratories and exhibition areas respectively while the roof is providing natural and artificial lighting according to the museological needs. The geometry of the building is tuned to the facade treatment of the listed Zenetos building, bringing the two buildings in dialogue.
The proposal is developed in an orthogonal plan with a central atrium. Two parallel bars hosting vertical circulation and support spaces are placed on either side. The museological path starts from the listed building and transitions to the new one. There, the exhibition chapters are curated in a route full of different space qualities and lighting, from the sense of excavation and immersion into the myth to brighter lighting surrounding artifacts and ruins.
The envelope of the new building is curated in order to reveal views towards the river, the ancient Acropolis and the Taygetos mountain.
The identity of the new museum is strengthened through its distinct materiality. The envelope/facade of the building is protecting the indoor activities, filtering daylight and shading from direct solar radiation. The solid, robust character of the stone is celebrated and it impacts indoor thermal comfort with its high massivity. With the aid of innovative fabrication technologies new inherent qualities of the material are revealed, such as translucency, color and texture.
The new NAMS museum stands abstract, an archetypical prism that reveals its inside differently, depending on the weather changes and the ever-changing museum activities.
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