#015UGM

Umetnostna Galerija Maribor
Maribor, Slovenia

Program: Museum
Client: Municipality of Maribor
Size: 18,000 m2
Status: Competition, 2nd Place
Year: 2009

Team: Oana Stanescu, Dong-Ping Wong

The introverted city, the extroverted museum.

The central typology of the historic city of Maribor is the courtyard block, an inward facing plan that encloses a privately shared garden at its center. This introverted organization protects its contents and establishes a solid and impervious facade, disconnecting the inner world from the street outside - a classic fortress model for a city built as a military bastion.

Family’s proposal for the new Maribor Art Gallery - situated just outside the historic walls at the intersection of the new and old cities - inverts this protective model in order to engage the surrounding city and environment. The undulating profile of the museum creates courtyards, plazas and playgrounds between the building and the city while simultaneously directing activities and views in and out of the site.