This project is a competition for the Agency of antiquities.
It is similar to the Supreme Court program – it has different users that take different routes within the
building and many specific functions that need a definition of their own.
Circulation is the only glue between these functions!
The building is wedged into a sloping site, with a small portion above sidewalk level, so that one enters the
major public functions through the roof. One descends – and its descent is contained in a huge linear
room of variable section which stretches through the entire site and orchestrates all the functional
relationships within.
This orchestration can only take place if it becomes a source of natural light.
A procession down the museum and further into storage of antiquities is a long cut; a short cut is offered
perpendicular to that route – for visitors and staff alike. The short cut and the long cut intersect going in
and out and takes place via different paths.
Whereas in the Supreme Court the connective tissue i.e. the foyer is a fluid space of two conflicting scales, that connect the specific functions of platonic forms - here the fluidity is in the forms and the connective tissue is strict and direct with structure, light and movement are forced into one elongated domain.