Facing the roman Arenas and amphitheater of Nîmes, crossed by the ruins and the archeological remains of the ancient roman fortifications, the main challenge for the design of the Musée de la Romanité was to design a museum that would become a reference on an international scale. This winning proposal by Elizabeth de Portzamparc creates a strong architectural dialogue between two architectures separated by over two thousand years of history and facing each other. The project is located on the backbone of the site, on the old limit that used to separate the medieval town from the modern city. More images and architect’s description after the break.
On these remains, twenty centuries of urban strata and architecture are overlaid: this is the exceptional heritage of the city of Nîmes. The scale of this project led us to gather multiple skills : the specifications included not only the creation of the museum but also the urban regeneration of the“Grill” plot, the museography, the archaeological garden landscaping and a feasibility study of a congress center and a hotel.
