National Museum of Afghanistan / IaN

Designed by IaN+ , their proposal for the National Museum of Afghanistan aims at harmoniously making it a part of the Afghanistan horizon. They do so by blending with it rather than establishing a conflict in order to restore the relationship between the new, the old and the landscape. By carrying out a ‘fragmentation’ process, through the use and repetition of modular spaces, their combination creates a “space within the space ”, letting visitors loose the perception of a coercing container space . More images and architects’ description after the break.

The cancellation of limits contributes to space customization and to fulfill its requirements shaping the void. Flows must turn into an instrument of knowledge, and the actions performed by visitors must collaborate to enrich the content. In parallel, according to the exhibition requirements, the regular grid allows a flexible subdivision of the space into rooms and/or galleries.

The museum arises entirely on the ground floor within a regular square grid, which is defined by two systems of mutually perpendicular walls. Simple geometric shapes are cut into the brick walls, which are equipped partitions, accommodating the exhibition devices so to become display supports. These walls also contain built-in display cases which define a continuous exhibition space.

The exhibition rooms are illuminated by roof skylights; natural light is controlled through shading systems in order to avoid direct light hitting the artworks. The natural light combined with the structural system defines a spatial matrix that acts on the reinterpretation of Islamic architecture’s basic elements: an undecorated and continuous space defined through its abstraction.

Architects: IaN+

Location: Kabul , Afghanistan

Design Team: Project Leader Giuseppe Zaccaria, Fabio Bonghi, Bruno Calastri, Giulia Giusti, Olimpia Mecca, Giuliana Sibilia , Domenico Tartaglia

Client: S.E.E. | office for architecture and design

Type: Museum

Status: International competition – honorable mention

Surface: 16,378 mq

Year: 2012