ARCHITECT

MANSILLA + TUÑÓN ARQUITECTOS

PROJECT

ROYAL COLLECTIONS 2016

We try to produce a building that is invisible from La Almudena Square by occupying a buried space that is yet to exist. The Museum of Royal Collections contains the plinth of the Royal Palace, constructing a linear space that follows the lines of the Palace itself. A simple, compact building, a construction that is aware that maximum flexibility and potential is only possible within a strict order, which uses the materials of the Royal Palace and its dignified construction as a feature, with a modern layout, heavy yet light, opaque yet transparent.


The three exhibition levels, equal yet different, hold three differentiated collections: first: tapestries, second: paintings, sculptures and various items and third: carriages. Each space is organised like a warehouse measuring one hundred and fifty by twenty metres, flanked by the remains of the Arab wall to the east and a monumental lattice composed of massive granite pillars open to the west above the Campo del Moro Royal Gardens.


The views across the gardens are the space between the structures, just as the pillars are matter between voids. The space is the rhythm of the beams, and the installations are the interface between what holds the building up. Structure, illumination, views, space, and infrastructure all have blurred edges and exchanged attributes.


The Museum of Royal Collections is a plinth for the Palace from the outside; a frame for views of the gardens and the interior features. The most important part already exists; our job is to make it visible.

source: Tuñón Arquitectos