We have submitted an entry to the international open architecture competition for the new building of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Panama (MAC) in Panama City. Rather than designing yet another block that competes for attention in Panama’s skyline and in the world of museum architecture, our proposal focuses on the quality of public space.
At the heart of the project is the art landscape beneath a floating commercial block. A series of shaded and sheltered spaces connects street level with the museum below. A monumental staircase leads from street level down to the heart of the museum: an underground plaza that opens to the sky through a precisely dimensioned opening in the commercial block above. Indirect daylight reaches all gallery spaces.
The public areas provide space for art performances and encounters with art and are accessible to everyone, regardless of museum admission. The museum galleries are arranged around this central plaza. The existing underground structure—remnants of a high-rise building on the site that was never realized—remains visible within the gallery complex and lends the museum a material continuity with the site’s history, thereby making it more sustainable.
On the ground floor: a stage, seating, outdoor installations, and green spaces that also serve as passive climate control. The commercial block above, whose activities are visible through a brise-soleil façade, shields the landscape from the tropical climate. MAC exhibition posters cover its underside, which is visible from below, thereby illustrating that art and commerce are never completely separate.
