Museum for Underwater Antiquities, Athens - Greece

Add To Collection

Other Projects by SANE architecture

Add To Collection

Taichung City Cultural Center, ROC

Museum for Underwater Antiquities, Athens - Greece

Firm

SANE architecture

Type

Cultural › Museum

SIZE

1,000,000 +

Second Place Winner - Piraeus Cultural Coast International CompetitionThe Competition task:Redesign of the existing cereals stock
house building facilities (silo) and its surrounding open space into a
museum for underwater antiquities & Regeneration of part of the
Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) Coastal Zone transformation into an open
public space for out door activities.The Project:The Architectural Concept: Ship space / Amphora spaceThe
architectural concept is based on the intention to expose the
antiquities recovered from the sea bed not as meaningless, dead relics,
but as objects partially recovering the original significance.The
museum is structured around a strong vertical gesture, situated in a
monumental space derived from the shape of ancient amphorae as well as
the shape of ships. The building is simultaneously a ship representing
the idea of the journey and an amphora - a symbol for the idea of
content. The journey is not only the one that sent the antiquities to
the sea but also the one that the archeologists take to discover them.
It is a trip back and forth between civilizations, in search of content.The
duality of the architectural concept emphasizes the initial functional
duality: a building for grain storage and a component of a transport
network.The Functional NoticeThe fuctional concept organizes
the 15000 sqm required program in the existing volumes in order to keep
the feeling of the original use of the building. The museum
incorporates galleries for permanent and temporary exhibitions,
organized in six thematic axes, a multimedia education centre and
library, research laboratories as well as restoration and storage
facilities.The VolumeKeeping the impact it has on the port
skyline, we mainly focused our intervention to the interior: a
monumental cut ilustrating the same dual approach: targeting the city
but also the sea: space – journey / space- contentThe inner atrium
has the proportions of a cargo: 1 of 8 in plan and it turnes towards the
water, curves to the harbor - the escalators in the centre become a
strong symbol of the journey, organizing the whole building around them.The cells space will be used as exhibition space and storage rooms for finds.The
Clock Tower, the port symbol is highlighted by longitudinal translucent
volumes. The building is essentialized , decomposed into parts: the
massive warehouse silhouette and the slim figure of the tower are
revealed by superposing the delicate translucent volumes.The Public SpaceThe
landscape project borrows new meanings from the history of the place:
the site is a huge port area, very mineral, that excludes any plant.Mineral
and vegetal lanes intersect with circular squares of different
dimensions, with a slightly ondulated surface that gives structure to
the space and accentuates the water movement sensation. The circular
squares are inspired from the greek theatre layout, offering space for
interaction . The concentric circles create a flexible design that
dilatates and contracts according to the user needs: relaxation and
isolation or interaction – a preocupation for all ages and abilities.A big square for large scale events will be placed in front of the Museum of Underwater Antiquities.At
the top of the museum a public space – an outdoor amphitheater
accessible by an exterior staircase offers a view over the city and the
sea independently of the museum schedule