Mavu
Museum of April and Universal Values
Santarem, Portugal
2021
Competition
Design Team
Jejon Yeung, Max Worrell, Beatriz de Uña Bóveda, Yunchao Le, Cohen Hudson
Our MAVU (Museum of April and Universal Values) proposal envisions a place of dialogue and encounter that teaches the historic achievement of the April Revolution, while celebrating the profound democratic transformations 47 years ago – on a political, economic, social and cultural level – that forever changed the future of Portugal. The museum serves as both a physical and symbolic connector that preserves the cultural significance of the place, while synthesizing historical references to create a contemporary and forward-looking institution for many generations to come.
Awarded Second Place
Open and engaging, the museum invites the public, both individually and collectively, to come together to commemorate the achievements of the past, and the potentialities of the future. Against the historic streetscape of Santarem, the former monastery is transformed from an undifferentiated space into a new, open public concourse for individual and communal engagement.
Entering from the Porta de Armas, the formal plaza is defined by new, contemporary facades of Building 1 and Building 2. In between, two large courtyards create new external spaces and provide relief to the largely granite paved plaza. A new large sunken garden creates a dedicated outdoor social space with greenery to contrast and compliment the surrounding hardscape.
“The building’s civicness is expressed through its open loggia, while concrete elements and open courtyards mediate between the outside and inside and create layered spaces within each building.”
In order to best communicate the ideals of universality, timelessness and equality, we have prioritized the placement and configuration of gallery spaces to have a prominent presence in both buildings. Building 1 is organized with a ground floor dedicated to a large main entrance foyer adjacent to the auditorium and multi-purpose room along with ancillary administrative spaces. The auditorium is publicly accessible and visually connected to the plaza. Upstairs, a large and open flexible space provides a generous area for temporary exhibitions, special commissions, performances and large-scale installations.
At Building 2, the public functions are primarily organized on two levels. The ground floor contains the main entrance foyer, cafe/shop, multipurpose room and loading/back-of-house spaces. A series of exterior voids are carved out to create outdoor spaces that provide a variety of open spaces for the public to experience within the museum.
