Madinat al-Zahra Museum

area view
exterial view
exterior view
View of main patio from the lobby
interior view
aereal view
sections
planta +1

Authors

Fuensanta Nieto, Enrique Sobejano,

Collaborators

Technical architect: MIGUEL MESAS; Project architect: MIGUEL UBARRECHENA; Collaborator (office): PEDRO QUERO, CARLOS BALLETEROS, JUAN CARLOS REDONDO; Structural engineering: NB 35 SL; Civil, soil and survey: GEASYT SA

Program

Culture
Completion
2009

The remains of the ancient Arab city of Madinat al-Zahra suggested a dialogue not only with those who had built it a thousand years before, but also with the archaeologists who are patiently working there and the surrounding agrarian landscape. In such a vast extension of land still waiting to be excavated, the architects decided to act as archaeologists and the design departed from the idea of finding the project below the ground. Thus, the new building establishes almost imperceptibly a permanent dialogue with the archaeological landscape. The double-square floor plan of the museum is similar to that of Córdoba; the gardens evoke the abandoned geometry of an excavation; and the concrete walls and Corten-steel roofs reflect the original white and red colors of the old palace. The museum appears silently in the landscape, as if it had been found underground, where it will continue to coexist over the course of the years with the ruins of Madinat al-Zahra.

Archive

Name of work in English

Name of work in original language

Prize year

Work Location

Studio

Authors

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Completion