AGi architects’ proposal submitted to the competition for the “New spatial design concept of the National Museum of Romanian History in Bucharest“, was placed sixth after jury’s decision.

The National Museum of Romanian History (MNIR) in Bucharest has set out to reassert itself as a contemporary museum of history, by revaluing its building and its relations with the urban context, by better displaying its collections, and by a higher quality of the cultural services it offers to the public.

Therefore, the National Museum of Romanian History is launching an international design competition, organized by the Chamber of Architects in Romania under the auspices of the International Union of Architects, with the great support of the Romanian Ministry of Culture.

The purpose of this competition is to select the best spatial and museographic concept for the New MNIR, suitable for the most representative museum at the national scale, and meaningful at the European level.

AGi architects’ proposal for MNIR

The proposal developed by AGi architects understands the street as the layer which links the different façades and public spaces of the neighborhood, inviting the public experience inside the building. A public space inside the museum will open it for all the citizens to enjoy bringing about a new museum experience. The intent for the museum is to take an active role in the daily lives of the people. A new museum experience that will not only educate about the history of the city of Bucharest and the whole of Europe, but it will also create and internal history within itself. The visitors of the museum now become both viewers of the exhibits and contributors to the construction of a collection about the museum.

Holistically the architectural intervention being proposed is divided into four main arrangements combined to give the final result:

1. In the first arrangement the project is brought to its original state (Alexandru Sӑvulescu, 1894-1899), by removing all rehabilitations and emptying all superfluous building elements that had formerly fragmented the different spaces.
2. The second arrangement aims to solve the programmatic issues. By opening the exhibition spaces in the three main wings of the building and having a fourth wing which will facilitate the different functions of the building. This fourth wing would house all the backstage activities of the museum acting as the engine of the whole building.
3. In the third arrangement a new programmatic piece is proposed. This piece is meant to reinforce the facilities building and serve as hub for the rest of the museum. Included in this proposal is the façade of the building acting as the stage curtain for all the activities hosted in the main plaza, as well as research labs and workspaces that are the fundamental link of the museum’s chain.
4. The final arrangement is the new concept of the plaza. The reintroduction of the plaza gains significance when it is relocated at a lower level making it visible from all the levels and wings of the museum. The central plaza will mediate all the circulations allowing the main focus of the exhibition pieces to be the historic treasure of Romania with the Trajan columns being the main attraction. The plaza becomes a flexible space that can act as an extension of the indoor exhibition spaces or even housing thematic or seasonal exhibitions. Flanking the sides of the plaza would be the museum shop which will allow constant revenue coming into the museum.

For further information:

AGi architects’ proposal for the new MNIR

MNIR competition