MUSAC

MUSAC in León, Spain by Mansilla + Tuñón

Photographs are by Luis Asín and Carlos S. Suárez.

This year's recipient of the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture - Mies van der Rohe Award is the Contemporary Art Museum of Castilla y León (MUSAC) by Mansilla + Tuñón. The award aims to "detect and highlight such works ... whose innovative character acts as an orientation or even a manifesto," while the museum itself aims to "[be] a place for interrelations, where the public is no longer a mere passive element that observes." Let's see how the museum fares.

The public face of the museum is a large plaza created by the building's plan, as a large chunk is removed from the larger mass, a mass which is composed mainly of low, one-story galleries but also six projecting volumes that create a sort of town within a town. An apparently random composition of colored glass fronts this space, while the rest of the building features a milky white glass. Beyond the large plaza space, smaller courtyards, or patios are created, carved from the mass.

What's most intriguing about the building is its plan. In addition to the aforementioned plaza and patios, the repetitive and parallel bending walls create rhomboid rooms, each room unique, creating unique configurations for the display of art. If one mentally stretches the plan until the walls are straight, a clear precedent can be found: the Kimbell Art Museum by Louis I. Kahn. The parallel walls. The patios aligned with the bays. MUSAC is the Kimbell in a funhouse mirror.

The architects, on the other hand, describe the building as "systematic repetition and formal expressiveness." Perhaps this statement illustrates the manifesto the award is looking for, the ability to take a logical or even tried-and-true diagram and infuse it with a unique twist that makes it memorable while also serving its function. As for the museum, hopefully they use the building as a means to further their mission, especially taking advantage of the plaza as an extension of the museum into the public realm.