The Lima Art Museum (MALI) plans to expand its contemporary art exhibition space underground on its northern side, for which it launched an international competition in 2016. The museum operates within the “Palacio de la Exposición,” a nineteenth-century French-style building situated within the park of the same name.
The proposal is conceived around a public open space that descends below grade to emphasize the prominence of the Palacio. This space also incorporates access to a future subway station, whose pedestrian flows are shared with the exhibition esplanade. The esplanade is shaded by a series of reinforced concrete beams, each 19 meters in length and 1.5 meters in height, which protrude as the sole elements above ground level. The stairs connecting the esplanade level with the park surface are designed at a monumental scale to enable their casual use as an amphitheater or a gently sloped plaza, from which the historic façade is clearly visible. A reflecting pool runs along the entire length of the historic façade at surface level.
The intervention further proposes the reorganization of the park, preserving several heritage buildings, enhancing circulation routes, and reorganizing an existing lagoon along with the vegetation.
The program is distributed across three underground levels: Level -1 accommodates the most public functions, such as the entrance, café, shop, educational area (small classrooms), library reading rooms, waiting area, and restrooms. Level -2 houses larger classrooms and the library’s storage area, while Level -3 contains the exhibition gallery, storage and associated facilities, a technical area, and the freight elevator access.
A staircase directly connects the entrance area with the main exhibition hall, which can be subdivided into three sections by movable walls located at the ceiling level changes.
Project: International Competition for the Expansion of the Contemporary Art Wing, Lima Art Museum
Client: Lima Art Museum
Architect: Albert Tidy
Collaborators: Cristóbal Riffo, Ken Qiu Sun, Camilo Villagrán
Location: Parque de la Exposición, Lima, Peru
Area: xxx m²
Materiality: Reinforced concrete
Project Year: 2016