MUSEO KORDILYERA

Location: University of the Philippines Baguio Status : Completed in 2017

Located within the University of the Philippines Campus in Baguio City, Museo Kordilyera is one of the rehabilitation projects and government buildings included in the proposed UPB Campus Master Plan which reinforces the role of the University as a premier arts and science institution in Northern Luzon. 

The initial brief for the project was to rehabilitate and extend the existing 100 m² Galerya Kordilyera converting it to an ethnographic museum.

The main challenge was the campus itself due to the limited amount of space that was available for development. The gallery was flanked by covered walkways, built structures, a plaza and vegetation with little space for an extension let alone a whole museum. 


As a solution, our proposal for the project was to maintain the open spaces, enhance the landscape behind the existing gallery, converting it into an entrance pavilion, office and teaching space, providing the exhibition areas and additional spaces for the museum below ground underneath the plaza, bringing down with it the circulation areas, thus replacing the covered walkways. By designing it this way, we are able to achieve a seamless integration into the existing campus and convert it and the surrounding buildings into spaces that supports multiple spatial typologies including an art gallery, museum, theater, teaching spaces, offices, cafe, shop and gathering areas for the students.



The Entrance Gallery Exterior

The Entrance Gallery Exterior

This project aims to integrate the contents of the museum into our contemporary setting, designing a space that is more programmatic than aesthetic. The protagonist of the project then is not the building itself, rather the narrative that creates the end product and the spaces that hold the essence of the culture, which is emphasized on the events, people, and their connection and relationship with nature.

LOCATION

AWARDS

Winner for the 2018 MADE Anthology Architecture Award - Institutional Category

Finalist Kohler Bold Design Awards 2017 - Cultural Spaces

Nominated 2018 Haligi ng Dangal Awards NCCA