Alberto Campo Baeza

First prize in international competition

The new National Museum of Ecuador is a vessel designed to house the history and most prized artistic treasures of this beautiful country.The design dominates Parque de la Carolina, at the junction of two major roads. To respond to this setting, it is set back towards the south, creating a large urban square. A square to welcome visitors, thoughtfully landscaped with trees, water features and shade to provide a transition from the noise of the city to the interior of the museum.

We also wish to reaffirm the city’s vertical character. Quito is a city that reaches for the sky, and the history of Andean architecture reflects this vertical relationship with the sky and the sun. One need only look at its stepped pyramids, the Tolas of Cochasquí or the Solar Temple of Ingapirca. In that same spirit, we propose a vertical box where light and the sun take centre stage. A box with courtyards and recessed voids. Enveloped by shaded spaces that act as a filter against the sun. A true box of light and shadow that opens out onto the city and the imposing Andean landscape.Given the shape of the site, we have opted for a rectangular floor plan that effectively accommodates the programme and allows for the optimisation of the various access points and circulation routes. There are three distinct zones. The first, to the south, is for the exhibition spaces. A central zone for circulation. And a third zone, to the north, which includes the four vertical circulation cores—with staircases, lifts and toilet facilities—and the courtyards, which allow for the control of light whilst also serving as exhibition spaces for outdoor pieces.

Each courtyard has its own name: on the ground floor, facing east, is the Patio Sol de Oro; in the centre is the La Tolita terrace; on the first floor is the Patio Pichincha; in the centre of the second floor is the Patio Inti; to the east is the Patio Caspicara; on the fifth upper floor is the Legarda Courtyard; on the sixth upper floor, the Ingapirca Courtyard; and crowning the MUNA is the Quito Terrace, at 2,854 metres above sea level.

We have sought to create the most beautiful museum in the world for Ecuador. A building framed by the light and shadow of Quito.

Link to the news an to the competition panels