Extension of the Reina Sofía Museum

Jean Nouvel – Extension of the Reina Sofía Museum in Madrid, 2005

"….I propose a gentle and natural intervention. The museum takes under its wing a triangular block to the west, three or four existing buildings and several trees: even if these buildings are being replaced, the substitutions remain approximately in the same place. The rapport with the neighbouring architecture has not fundamentally changed; 

Of the pre-existing buildings, two walls are symbolically preserved, not for their beauty, but rather to affirm the sense of the transformation. Significant trees are maintained as well. The three new mutant buildings are organised around a courtyard. Each one has a dominant program. The first, to the south, is a library; the second to the west, is for meetings – the auditorium, the protocol room, bar and restaurant; the third, to the north, is for temporary exhibitions and the only one with a direct connection to the museum. Each building opens onto terraces, some public, others for employees. The library captures overhead light and shadow with suspended dome skylights. 

The auditorium and meeting rooms are unique because of their form, inherited from theatre typologies: a taut-skinned, jewel box with curved angles, surrounded by foyer terraces…."
Jean Nouvel