Red Museum academic work


Prime Location Volcanos with Striking Views
[Collaboration with Juan Correa. Gran Canaria. 2008]


Introduction

The project is located in Lanzarote, in a plot with volcanic lava. This natural area is protected by Lanzarote planning laws. So the opportunities to build here are extremely rare. This was a competition for ideas for a museum.

Idea

The big challenge was designing a building to fit within the landscape, we took inspiration from the triangulated geometry of the lava. There is a hierarchy of spaces in this building. The courtyard is the command center right in the middle of the building, looking at every corner of the building. In front of that, there are all the observational points with the main focus on the views. We selected building materials with colours and textures which would integrate the museum with the environment. The red steel structures were inspired by the volcanoes landscape and mountains of Lanzarote. It is a material that allows the museum to be contemporary and also you can read the passage of time.

Inside, you get a sense of you are into a 3D origami structure. The angled roof of the ceiling, allows light to enter the building in a variety of ways. The light changes constantly. This geometry is also a way of framing the landscape. The focus is not only on the sky but on the mountains and the rocks.