Winning Proposal for the New Archaeological Museum of Sparta

Written by Christele Harrouk
Published on September 12, 2019

MOR-architects and EP Architects were awarded the first position in the competition for the new Archaeological Museum of Sparta. With an architectural concept based on creating an elevated space of exhibition on top of the archaeological site, the winning project generates a constant visual connection between the old and the new.

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The proposed scheme comes as an addition to a listed building of industrial legacy, and to the surrounding archaeological site. According to the designers, “the existing building and its expansion compose an “island” in an “archaeological sea” which surrounds them”. The new addition will take place in the old storage space of the existing factory.

The architects announce that they have conceived the New Archaeological Museum of Sparta as “an open museum, […] aiming to express and enhance the relationship between the antiquities on-site, the listed factory building, and the new building complex”. In fact, this is achieved through a composition combining connectivity, integration, transparency, and flexibility.

The exhibition space showcases a flexible layout, with a “simultaneous perception of the main exhibition areas, the ongoing archaeological excavation and the iconic landscape.” The connection of the new building with a network of paths links the existing archaeological spaces to the contemporary city of Sparta. Finally, the archaeological park is introduced into the building through “outdoor exhibition spaces and shaded social areas underneath the elevated volume of the main exhibition”.