FREE: 3 museum concepts

image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

fernando romero recently showed us three different museum projects that his studio, FREE have been working on over the last year or so.

museum 01image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

MUSEUM 01 the first concept is for a site in the south of mexico, in a region that is very rich in natural resources, full of very diverse forests and cenotes. we were invited to develop a museum that connects the artefacts of ancient cultures of the area with and richness of the surroundings.

we decided to re-study the typology of pyramids, since pyramids are fundamental part of the subconscious in our culture, partly because we have studied them in our early education but also because these structures still define the spaces of our cities.

usually pyramids in mexico are solid, massive structures that have only a small percentage of space accessible inside them. so we decided to try and create a lot of void inside the pyramid that enables visitors to experience both the exhibition spaces and feel the context of the forest.

museum 01image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 01image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 01image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

MUSEUM 02 ‘this museum is located on a bay in mexico, so we convinced the client that the design should interact with the water in a interesting way. we started off by creating a kind of stylized ‘doughnut’ that allowed the water to enter from beneath the edge of the structure  into the center ring. the whole facade is perforated with a random series of rhomboids that allow a large amount of light to enter the exhibition spaces and also are attract attention from the outside.’

video produced by VUW studio courtesy of FREE / fernando romero museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 02image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 03image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

MUSEUM 03 with this design we have been trying to create a continuous loop that wraps around and creates a network of arched spaces where exhibitions can take place. so inside you have a spiral walk way and several different types of ‘shelf-like’ exhibition spaces. the big challenge was how to get as much natural light into the space as possible and so we have experimented a lot with different ‘skins’ to give the interior as much light as possible.

video produced by VUW studio courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 03image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero museum 03image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 03image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 03image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 03image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 03image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 03image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

museum 03image courtesy of FREE / fernando romero

editors note: we are not at liberty to disclose exact locations and other specific details at this stage, but will publish updates on these projects as soon as we can.