New Building of the Museum of Contemporary Art
International Architectural Competition 2026, 1st phase
Client: Museum of Contemporary Art, Panama City, Panama
The project is conceived as a precise architectural figure within the urban landscape of Panama City, positioned between the density of the city and the openness of the Pacific horizon. Its clarity emerges from the articulation of two interdependent elements: a civic podium and a lifted museum volume, establishing a clear hierarchy between public ground and cultural institution. The ground is extended and transformed into a continuous civic surface, where a grand stair leads to an elevated public platform that acts as the museum’s first plaza. This space operates as a threshold between city and building, incorporating an amphitheater that supports gathering, performance, and informal occupation, reinforcing the project as an active civic condenser. At this level, the podium forms a transparent and permeable interface, hosting public, commercial, and service functions while activating the street edge. Commercial spaces are organized along the perimeter to ensure visibility and direct engagement with the city, while flexible interior areas allow for a wide range of cultural and community activities. Above, the museum is defined as a compact and elevated volume, whose mass is transformed through subtraction and a permeable envelope.
The building shifts between a quiet, abstract presence by day and a luminous lantern by night. At its core, a central atrium organizes the museum as a continuous vertical void. Galleries are conceived as independent volumes projecting into this space, creating visual connections across levels and a dynamic relationship between solid and void. The exhibition spaces form a diverse sequence—from open and flexible galleries to controlled environments, including a large-height gallery for monumental works—where light is carefully modulated to shape each experience. Circulation unfolds as a vertical promenade, articulated by sculptural spiral staircases that connect levels and frame views into the atrium and galleries, making movement an integral part of the spatial experience. The upper levels consolidate institutional and public programs, with administrative offices on the third level and a café, restaurant, and bar on the fourth, extending into a roof terrace overlooking the Pacific. This space operates as an independent destination, with the possibility of separate night-time access, allowing activity beyond museum hours. Through this sequence, the project operates as a continuous civic platform, balancing openness with introspection and establishing a strong dialogue between the city, the institution, and the landscape.