Archive and Museum for Architecture
Mexico City

Autumn 2015

Architecture museums typically have two primary programs, archive spaces and gallery spaces. Past competitions, such as OMA's proposal for the NAI in Rotterdam, provide equal amounts of space for architectural archives and exhibitions. This sets architecture museums aside from traditional museums in that visitors can interact with the art to educate themselves on the what that the medium communicates. 

This proposal in Mexico City intertwines the archive with the gallery. The visitors therefore not only experience the drawings, models, videos and installations curated by the museum, but also the act of interaction with the work that takes place in the archives. The 6-meter wide circulatory ramp acts as a continuous gallery space itself with one-third of the exhibition occurring on the ramps. This creates a layering of different programs that is visible from the exterior with alternating transparent and solid panels.