The Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property of Montenegro has announced that the group led by the design studio a-fact and composed of LAND, Maffeis Engineering and Charcoalblue, is the winner of the international competition for the architectural design of the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Natural History and the Park of Arts and Culture in Podgorica.
The project was selected by an international jury from 48 proposals from globally recognised studios.
The winning project “proposes an iconic architecture that connects culture and nature, reconnecting the Morača River with the city. The new Arts & Culture district will be a catalyst for Podgorica’s social life, becoming a living and dynamic public attractor. The buildings promote a new paradigm of sustainability by encouraging interaction between indoor and outdoor spaces and exploring the contemporary use of local materials and construction techniques”, according to architects Andrea Rossi, Giovanni Sanna and Pierluigi Turco, co-founders of a-fact.
The winning project was praised by the jury for its “architectural composition composed of three distinct but related volumes, which emerge from the banks of the river and create a new landmark for the city, a civic destination for residents and visitors alike.
The design proposal draws inspiration from the beautiful nature of Montenegro, while the stone facades pay homage to the surrounding mountains and create a new architectural language that merges with the park and the river”.
What the buildings take away from the land is given back with a lush roof that blends in with the landscape and becomes a new open-air venue boasting a beautiful view of the riverfront. The green roof dissolves the lines between the building and the land, which ensures continuous movement through the landscape and further enriches the biodiversity of the site.
The landscape design with its blue-green infrastructure starts with an analysis of the site with the aim of incorporating existing values and enhancing the biodiversity of the park with the retention of 290 trees, the addition of 532 new trees of different species and 900 shrubs. In addition, the museum park’s connections to the city are emphasised with a focus on the riverfront with improved usability for citizens.
“What we have presented is a vision of an architecture that generates a new river landscape and thus connects the river with the city. The project is a contribution to the regeneration of rivers within the European Nature Restoration Law,” explains Andreas Kipar, founder of LAND.
Sustainability is at the heart of the project proposal, which aims to adopt and integrate passive and active environmental strategies to reduce overall energy consumption for heating, cooling, artificial lighting and drinking water use.
For more information visit www.a-fact.com.
CREDITS
Architecture and team leader: a-fact
Landscape design: LAND Italia
Structures and Facades design: Maffeis Engineering
Experience design: Charcoalblue
Render: EmmeWorks
