Do you know the Portuguese architects Francisco and Manuel Aires Mateus, who were previously selected in 2017 as part of the limited competition for the Maritime History Museum of Saint-Malo?
Their museum project has emerged as the new icon of Saint-Malo, adopting the spirit and image of a castle that offers visitors the possibility to control the environment from above, or immerse themselves in the isolated universe behind its stone surroundings…
In their filing, the two architects defended a very precise vision. According to them, history is the most inseparable value of Saint-Malo.
Defense zone, there have always been tense borders between different areas: on the human side, conflicts, walls, fences, the line that separates but also protects; On the other hand, natural. As the elements separate, the land that reaches there gives way to the sea.
It is a zone of protection, as much as it is the danger of the unknown.
Saint-Malo has always been a protest zone. Cultural, ideological, political and military differences. It is a land of conquest and defense, which has also formed a unique image of the region.
He covers himself, keeps to himself, and hides from anyone who sees from the outside. Inside, they are gathered, sheltered and warmly welcomed.
It is in the double coexistence of these components of this character that the new museum was designed.
Landmark and concrete icon seen from the outside. Metal wall, vertical, angular, closed and closed. At its summit is the world of landscape: an endless road that reaches to the horizon.
Inside: a protected and tender world. A living heart. The presence of wood that welcomes, that develops, that renews itself, that makes sounds when you walk.
Painting evokes, renews and reshapes the identity of Saint-Malo. As a language can only be spoken there, a cozy central fortress is formed.
It was built in the future, a legacy as unique as that.
Kevin Lugnoni
