Museum of Iberian Art, Jaén
A former prison turned into the museum for the largest collection of Iberian art
The Museo Internacional de Arte Íbero (International Museum of Iberian Art) was born of a desire to share the culture of the Iberian Peninsula and its historical significance. Far from aiming to be a mere place of passage, the centre sets out to make a positive mark on the lives of local people, and its spaces therefore explore and express the bond between the social and the artistic. This gives rise to rooms for visitors’ leisure beyond the conventional museum facilities.
Alongside the generous exhibition spaces, among other amenities, it thus offers a 148-seat auditorium with audiovisual equipment for the museum’s own activities and for external use, as well as a restoration laboratory, a shop and a café.
A new building concept as a cultural magnet
Built on the foundations of the former provincial prison, the complex is conceived from the winning entry in the International Ideas Competition held in 2003. EDDEA joined the project in 2010 with the aim of revitalising the area, so that the building would become a magnet for culture and leisure in the city.
The museum’s location, in one of the liveliest commercial districts of the city and at the meeting point of two of its main thoroughfares, Paseo de la Estación and Avenida de Muñoz Grande, is strategic, given the constant flow of potential visitors.
For its construction, EDDEA set out to reassess the layout of the prison’s original spaces through a new building concept.
The design of this large-scale cultural venue was defined with the place in which it operates firmly in mind. The decision was taken to build its façade in blocks, which catch the visitor’s eye with their texture: made of lightweight glass-fibre reinforced concrete, they stand out as light is reflected across them.
