........ .. .. . . . . . . . .. . . .. .... .. . . ... . . . ... .. . . . . ... . . . .. . .. .. . . .... . . . . .. .. . .. .. ... . . . .
.. . ... ....... . . . .. ............. ............... .. . .. .. .. . . .. . . . . ... . . ... . . .. . . . .. . . .. .. . . . .
Image
MUSEO NACIONAL
BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA
2009
Image: Museum as existing
Working in collaboration with Colombian architect Manuel Villa, this proposal to re-model the garden in front of the National Museum of Colombia in Bogotá has four aims: To re-form the garden as an interacive public space; to relate the space to the iconic Monserrate Hill behind the museum; to create a productive urban botanic garden with specimens from across Colombia; to open access to the museum to those with experiential and physical disabilities.
The thematic starting point of the proposal is the Island of Cythera as described in the 14th Century novel Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a botanic garden laid out as a pathway to ultimate knowledge at its centre. The centrifugal form of the garden also bears reference to the history of the building as Colombia’s first panopticon prison, converted to a museum in the 1950s when interest in Colombia’s pre-colonial history grew.
This proposal was initiated by public competition and is on-going.
