Serralves Museum
200best ES
Álvaro Siza
1999
Type
Museum
Tags
cultural facilities, in the park, art spaces , 200Best, Portugal CCC
Visitability
Allowed
Description
Once again, I was faced by a programme involving the insertion of a museum within a pre-existing established garden – an exquisite garden incorporating a succession of well-defined spaces: a classical garden, a romantic garden with a lake, an agricultural area and a space which had been an orchard and which was later annexed to the garden but which did not form part of the initial project. I chose to locate the museum in the former orchard, so that it would constitute an element that would foster greater movement within the set of paths through the garden. A path begins in the agricultural area and then returns to the museum’s location, running laterally in relation to the House. From this space another path establishes a relationship with the House. The intention is to complete the complex succession of spaces, thus constituting a single park.The programme underwent changes during the design period and there were also changes of government. Three preliminary studies were drawn up before the final programme was fixed. All these programmes were guided by the museum’s insertion within the Park, together with the obvious concern raised in relation to the impact on the garden and the surrounding streets. It was therefore necessary to build a large scale building, with a significant interior area, that would not have a major impact on the surroundings (a residential area with two-storey buildings) and which would be in harmony with, or complement, the high-quality garden. This need to reduce the impact of the building was one of the reasons why it is steeply sloped (following the lie of the land) and the storage areas located either at the subterranean or partially subterranean levels, thus enabling access for loading and unloading at the top end, at the lowest level of the terrain.The building is also, to a certain extent, fragmented: the body of the auditorium, and the body of the museum, including the social and exhibition areas, are developed in a 'U' lay-out, enabling the garden to enter within the museum’s volume, thus minimizing its environmental impact. The concept is similar to that of Santiago, and consists of a succession of rooms of different dimensions with two levels.(Description provided by Álvaro Siza)