El Prado Museum roof

The object of the contest was to adapt the El Prado Museum’s roof structure to modern museum conditions. We believed it was essential to distinguish between the original neoclassical building designed by Villanueva, and the very poor later additions. Therefore the horizontal cut across those roof volumes liberates the original cornice. The new “light boxes” gave the possibility to see the sky hovering over the exhibition rooms, while allowing full control of lighting conditions and perfect maintenance. The design of these light boxes was completely adapted to each of the rooms, with special attention given so light was directed at the right angle. As a final detail and a nod to a very current past, we proposed to place an angel on the Puerta de Goya, as an interpretation of the original sculpture, which relates to the control of the creative process.