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Ferreyra Palace Museum

This is a project by GGMPU Architects and it is located at Córdoba, Argentina. There are nineteen images for Ferreyra Palace Museum.

: © GGMPU Architects

Project images

Designer's statement

The Ferreyra Palace has been converted into the Córdoba Province Museum of Fine Arts, to display a selection of the museum’s collection as a permanent exhibition. A change in the original character of a building, such as that confronted in this conversion, poses complex problems. The original cultural heritage value of the building was that of a family residence; not that of a public building intended to show and preserve a different kind of cultural heritage. A challenge had to be overcome so that both heritages could coexist without one overshadowing the other.

The Ferreyra Palace was designed following the strict guidelines of the Ecole de Beaux Arts, according to the Petit Palais typology where the piano nóbile -- destined for social use -- was highly valued, was spatially connected with the upper levels of the building, and was complemented with a basement and a mansard which housed the service areas and were visually differentiated from the rest of the composition.

The renovation has preserved the pre-eminent hierarchical condition of the main hall as well as its relationship with all the original public areas, while at the same time creating a new multi-level space that now allows the visual appraisal of all the building levels at the same time, thus revealing the unified character of the building as a whole. This space –that lies perpendicular to the main building axis- has been designed as an ambiguous realm, which maintains a certain neutrality in contrast with the main hall.

The original enclosure of the building and its fenestration is shown through a translucent tensile PVC sheet which becomes a new skin for the building, shifting its appearance according to the light, which can be either natural daylight, regular white artificial light, or colored RGB lighting intended to create different effects. The design for the opposite side -- which interfaces with the original spaces -- was solved with a continuous glass plane covered by a microperforated membrane printed with a pixelated photo of the main hall which gives it an abstract texture; the same hall can be seen behind the glass through its ambiguous transparency. The planes contained within this space have been dematerialized by covering them with mirror-polished steel.

A new wooden stairway, painted black and covered in black leather, reaches the black ceiling which extends towards the public areas of the last floor. This dark space eases the transition into the exhibition rooms, which due to the fragility of the exhibited material must be kept under low lighting.

The layout of the building as determined by the central hall has been kept in all the levels, making the use and understanding of the building easier. The new exhibition rooms have been designed as efficient, neutral spaces to minimize competition with the original building. Finally, a series of new technical requirements had to be met with the museum program, such as easy access to all public spaces by handicapped and elderly people, emergency exits, ability to accommodate and control large groups of students, a controlled environment in terms of temperature and humidity, artificial lighting control, fire detection and extinction systems, physical security against intrusions, alarms, permanent control by closed circuit TV, access control, etc.

Project title: Museo Superior De Bellas Artes Evita - Palacio Ferreyra
Location: Córdoba, Argentina
Completion/construction: 2007
Client: Government of Córdoba
Architects: GGMPU Architects + Lucio Morini
Project Manager: Guillermo Pozzobon
Structural engineer: Fragueiro & Novillo Eng.
Building area: 4800 m2