The aim of the architectural study is to design a building that will seal with its presence the southern end of the western waterfront, in “dialogue” with the Fortezza, which rises at its northern end. It is important to create a public-friendly environment, in continuity with the natural environment of the beach and the underground spaces that flow into the old town. The passage of the public through the elongated site and the direct connection between the beach and the old town through the museum determined the form of the project. The main idea of the composition is based on the distinction of two main functional units, which are placed in two wings:

(a) on the south side of the site, the wing of the Museum itself,
(b) on the north side, the wing of the social participation areas (Multipurpose and Periodic Exhibition Halls, Café) which may operate independently of the Museum.

The compositional structure of the project is expressed morphologically by the spread of an almost compact floor that dominates the plot from edge to edge, resting on a translucent ground floor. Cladding of local limestone blocks wraps the superstructure like a ribbon, sometimes flat with sharp folds at street corners, sometimes undulating in conversation with the shoreline, sometimes circular. It treads on the ground where it needs support, with walls that direct movement and let light into the ground floor spaces, protecting them from the western sunlight. The limestones of the walls, the glazing and the earth floor, sometimes planted and sometimes with rough grey paving, are the three materials of the project’s morphological vocabulary. The seamless and undisturbed skin and the large transparent openings are the two elements that coexist in a unique balance.