National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida

Rafael Moneo (9)
Rafael Moneo
Rafael Moneo Vallés
Nieves La Roche
Juan José Echeverría
Enrique de Teresa Trilla
Francisco González Peiró
Georges Meylan
Charles Meyer
Stanley Allen
Pedro Feduchi

The presence of Dionisio Hernández Gil in the General Directorate of Fine Arts under Javier Tusell is at the origin of this project, which began as a project for a retaining wall for a street - José Ramón Mélida - endangered by the work of archaeologists, who had excavated an entire block and found what they expected: aqueducts, peristyles of Roman houses, foundations of Renaissance courtyards, cisterns, sewers and even the remains of an early Christian church.

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To build on what has been built, to build on a land densely occupied by ruins, is the task at hand. The direct, immediate and obvious allusion to Roman civilisation seemed almost inevitable in order to build a museum on that site. Using the same means of construction, using the same techniques, has always seemed the most respectful way of living with the existing ruins. Faced with the dilemma of replicating and insisting on the orientations defined by the Roman constructions or recognising the traces of contemporary Mérida, it was the latter - the guidelines perpendicular to the aforementioned Calle José Ramón Mélida - which prevailed.

Michael Morán
Michael Morán / OTTO

The new museum was to be the recovery of the lost continuity between the Roman and modern-day Mérida: the new museum, therefore, as the most recent episode in the history of that place. That is to say the entire history of the city, the history of Mérida, not only of Roman Mérida. But the use of quasi-Roman means of construction does not exclude the fact that the architectural mechanisms are contemporary, thus producing the counterpoint in which, in our opinion, lies the attraction of the museum.

Michael Morán / OTTO

General information

National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida

YEAR

1986

Status

Built

Option to visit

Visit by appointment

Address

St. José Ramón Mélida, s/n

06800 Merida - Badajoz

Latitude: 38.953002806

Longitude: -6.344191851

Classification

Building materials

Brick

Built area

501 - 5000 m²

Awards

ACUE 1988

I BEAU

Involved architects

Charles Meyer

Enrique de Teresa Trilla

Francisco González Peiró

Georges Meylan

Juan José Echeverría

Nieves La Roche

Pedro Feduchi

Rafael Moneo Vallés

Stanley Allen

Collaborators

Francisco González Peiró (Technical architect)

Jesús Jiménez Cañas (Structure)

Alfonso García Pozuelo (Structure)

Rafael Luque (Technical architect)

Involved architectural firms

Rafael Moneo

Information provided by

Rafael Moneo

Website links

EUMies Award

I BEAU

Rafael Moneo

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Location

38.953002806 -6.344191851 ca496b6d-0c91-46c9-a7e0-356c75345b0d Built
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Built
Temporary
Lost
Unbuilt project

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