Museo de Cantabria

The winning design by Emilio Tuñón and Luis M. Mansilla for the Cantabria Museum in Santander is an artificial landscape creating an extensive museum of local history and art. Santander, situated in the midst of Spain's northern coast, is a distinctive capital of the region. In an effort to attract more tourists, cultural tourism, and cultural attention, the city has embarked on several large construction projects, including a government building by Rafael Moneo and a large athletic stadium by Franco y Palao.
The architects were inspired by the Cantabrian mountain range, one of the most prominent features of the entire region. The mountains provide a picturesque backdrop for the museum, and the design by Mansilla + Tuñón, with its cluster of jagged concrete obelisks (shafts, chimneys), formally references their distinctive peaks. The exaggeratedly stretched obelisks contribute to an original architectural conception of false geography, creating an overall impression of something abstract, yet at the same time something vague and familiar. When one finds oneself inside, the obelisks transform into hovering shafts overhead, punctured by cut openings serving as gigantic roof windows, allowing light to pour into the main entrance space. In this dramatic entrance hall and galleries located on the same floor, the museum will exhibit its art collections. In the intimate underground level tucked beneath the main galleries, historical collections will be housed. The formal clustering of volumes in this building creates a matrix of galleries composed of small cells that can be divided or left open according to needs. Although the museum's emergence is quite unusual in formal terms, the resulting floor plans provide a nice and traditional museum layout.
Architects often imbue their buildings with metaphorical values, which is particularly evident in this example. Mansilla + Tuñón departed from the typology of traditional museums and created a completely new and highly innovative interpretation with their project. The Cantabria Museum cleverly presents its surroundings while simultaneously offering the observer an unusual experience.