Altamira Caves Museum

Description

Years ago, the conservation problems of the Altamira caves made it advisable to restrict the number of visitors and to create a research centre for the study of the caves, which would also serve as the headquarters of the Altamira Board of Trustees. Given the deterioration of the cave, it became necessary to build a replica near the site to accommodate the large number of visitors.With these objectives in mind, an area close to the original cave was chosen as the site for the centre and museum. The new site, located on another slope of the hill on which the original cave is located, is separated from it by abundant vegetation. The gentle slopes of its topography made it ideal for the integration of the new construction. In addition, its northward slope allowed an entrance to the neo-cave similar in orientation to that of the original cave. The neo-cave is located outside the stormwater area of the original cave, to prevent it from being altered by this factor.The museum, the replica and the research centre were divided into two distinct construction areas: on one side, the area where the replica is located; on the other, a series of sections extending linearly from a foyer where visitors are welcomed. The three sections of this area start from the main entrance and contain the permanent and temporary exhibition spaces, the multi-purpose rooms, the assembly hall, a place for the sale of publications and a restaurant or cafeteria that extends into the open air. The basic structure of these sections, arranged almost parallel to each other, consists of large beams combined with an ancillary structure featuring a slat system that opens to the north to let natural light into the exhibition areas.The desire to integrate the new construction into the landscape was at odds with the roof needed to house the replica. To address this issue, the project came up with a sloping roof that would follow the natural slopes of the ground. The roof would be covered with grass and would have a system of linear skylights. The space between the neo-cave and the roof houses the research centre, the laboratory area, the management and administration offices and the library, all of which are located under the same structure and lit from above.  From the library, visitors can contemplate the back of the cave, with its artificial envelope and its hanging system, which reveal the scenic character of the neo-cave.The construction of the replica invites visitors to interpret its installation in the landscape as a ‘mirror image’ or reflection that implies a ‘virtual’ realm. This makes the frame that separates the virtual from the real important. This frame takes the form of a quadrangular perimeter cut into the hill below which the replica is housed. This perimeter is delimited by three- and four-metre cantilevered canopies. As for the entrance to the neo-cave, it features a very careful design that takes into account its insertion in the natural cave and does not overlook the architecture, ensuring climate control by means of a glass enclosure. From the inside, the view of the landscape is framed by the perimeter of the entrance to the neo-cave, which reproduces its original features, outlining the distant landscape as if it were a timeless nature. These considerations about the frame, the distinction between a virtual and a real realm, in short, about the ‘window’ of classical aesthetics, underlie the conception of these aspects of the project.(Description provided by the architects)