Pabellón Museo de Memoria Histórica de Colombia FILBO 2018

Project Details

National Museum of Historical Memory Pavilion FILBO 2018

DESCRIPTION

Proyecto nominado en la Bienal XXVII Colombiana de arquitectura y diseño

The project consists of an exhibition conceived as a full-scale test of the curatorial script and spatial principles of the future National Museum of Historical Memory of Colombia planned to begin construction in 2020 and developed within the framework of the agreements signed between the Colombian Government and the former FARC guerrilla.

The exhibition does not rely on a permanent collection. Instead, it proposes a museological narrative intended to address the effects and actors of one of the most significant political and social events in twentieth-century Colombia. The conceptual script reconstructs approaches, perspectives, and interpretations of the conflict through three main axes: the body, the land, and water, while deliberately avoiding a single or absolute reading of the histories of war.

The architecture of the museum seeks to provide a space where different versions of reality can coexist and be told. For this reason, the exhibition is organized as a multidirectional journey, allowing visitors to construct multiple narratives and possible routes.

The project occupies a pavilion measuring 50 meters deep, 20 meters wide, and 10 meters high, typically used as an exhibition hall. One particular constraint was that entrance and exit had to occur through the same doorway, requiring the circulation to operate as a loop. In addition, the 1,000 m² initially available were insufficient for the full program, originally estimated at 1,500 m². The overall strategy therefore consisted of organizing the project across two levels.

The available space is structured through a 45-degree grid intersected by three double-height volumes aligned along a central axis. Each volume is surrounded by square exhibition spaces that contain the curatorial content and allow visitors to construct non-linear routes according to their own interests.

The first volume is a rotated square containing a forum for debates and discussions around memory. Located immediately after the entrance hall, it can be accessed without completing the entire exhibition route. The second volume, or ‘house’ , is the central piece of the project and functions as the intersection point of all circulation paths. It is a seven-meter-high parallelepiped topped by a four-pitched roof, recalling the conventional silhouette of a house. An internal void creates a visual connection between both levels. The third volume, the memorial, concludes the route on the first level and is wrapped by a ramp leading to the second floor. It consists of a series of timber frames within which multiple performative and artistic actions take place, allowing visitors to hear stories from communities of victims from different regions of the country.

On the second floor contains the educational and alternative programs that are also tested through the exhibition. These spaces allow different formats and forms of communication to operate simultaneously, encouraging a more collective understanding of the conflict.

The memorial ramp leads into the house installation, a graphic piece made up of successive material layers that visitors are invited to attach freely, as a way of reflecting on the idea of dispossession. Beyond this installation lies the library , a documentation center containing research produced by the CNMH; the radio is conceived as a space for producing content and broadcasting voices and sounds that evoke different regions of the country; the teaching space , where groups of students take part in collective activities; and finally, a private counseling room for visitors whose emotional response to the exhibition may require individualized therapeutic support.

At the end of the route, a staircase returns visitors to the entrance hall, where they encounter a guestbook, a closing text, and access to an adjoining space where musical, theatrical, and artistic events are presented by communities represented within the exhibition narrative.

Assembly and Fabrication

The entire structure was designed to be dismantled and reused as the exhibition traveled to at least four cities across the country. As a result, the spatial system had to adapt to a variety of locations, including sites with different levels, uncovered areas, or smaller available footprints. This requirement led to a modular design strategy that allows for multiple configurations, alternative circulation routes, and the removal of selected components without compromising the overall meaning of the exhibition. The dimensions of the components were also defined so they could be stacked and transported efficiently by truck.

The design process lasted eight months, spanning the selection of the venue, the finalization of the museographic script by the CNMH, and the development of the engineering.

Prefabrication began in workshops four months before the opening. Individual spaces were preassembled independently, allowing the 1,450 m² exhibition to be installed in just four days—the equivalent of assembling approximately 15 m², roughly the size of a room, every hour. To accelerate installation, it was essential for the greatest possible number of components to be handled directly by the assembly crews, without relying on heavy machinery.

The construction system is based primarily on laminated fir beams measuring 8 × 18 cm and 6 × 15 cm, which form the structural framework, together with enclosure panels built from 4 × 2 cm timber frames and pine plywood sheets measuring 1.20 × 1.20 m, 1.20 × 2.40 m, and 1.20 × 3.60 m.

DETAILS

Use

Memory Exhibition

Type

Pavilion

Duration

16 days

Attendees

500,000

Area

1545 m²

Location

Bogotá D. C. – Colombia

Meters above the sea level

2625

Average annual temperature

13.1 °C

Year

2018

Client

National Center for Historical Memory

Architectural design and furniture

Yemail Architecture

Project team

Antonio Yemail + Sebastián Vélez + José Luis Hoyos+ Nataly Salas+ Martín Jiménez

Art direction

Laura Cuervo

Assistant art direction

Maria Camila Suarez

Graphic design

Margarita Garcia, Juliana Toro

Audiovisual production design

Melissa Saavedra Gil

Executive producer

Felipe Jaramillo

Production coordination

Constance Ramirez, Paula Cardoso

Architectural Model

Juan Sebastian Velez

Photo Credits

Alejandro Arango

Categories: Culture