Ecuadorian-Spanish project wins design for new National Museum

A winning Ecuadorian-Spanish design, "Ecos del sol," will shape Ecuador's new National Museum (MuNa) after securing victory in an international competition. The government announced the selection on Monday during a ceremony led by Vice President María José Pinto. The chosen project comes from the architectural studios Campo Baeza and MAODA, based in Quito and Madrid.

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a box capable of safeguarding the country's history, memory, and most valuable pieces, and of expressing the institutional and monumental character that corresponds to a Museum of this importance.

Judges described the design as "a box capable of safeguarding the country's history, memory, and most valuable pieces, while expressing the institutional and monumental character befitting a museum of this importance." They highlighted its "structural sincerity of materials" and a "baroque sensibility" achieved not through added decoration, but through depth, surprise, and the interplay of light and shadow. The exterior is noted for its serenity, contrasting with an interior that unfolds through excavated patios and voids, creating a sequence of unexpected spaces.

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structural sincerity of materials. On the other hand, a baroque sensibility that does not appear as added decoration, but through depth, surprise, and the contrast between light and shadow.

Strategically positioned at the southern edge of Quito's expansive Carolina Park, the museum is envisioned to visually anchor the large central green space. It will stand as a solid urban backdrop to future commercial developments planned for the area south of the site. The plaza leading to the museum acts as a threshold, offering shade and water features to transition from the city's noise to the building's interior.

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Its presence visually closes this great central green space in the city and establishes a solid urban background against future commercial developments that will be located south of the property.

Inside, the museum's program is organized logically with flexible exhibition halls, a central circulation spine, and a technical strip housing vertical cores, services, and facilities. Patios are designed to filter light, frame views of Quito's landscape, and guide visitors through a deliberate, ascending museographic journey. The use of durable, low-maintenance ecological concrete structure addresses seismic conditions and allows for efficient construction using proven systems, clearly separating public, technical, and cultural heritage routes.

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The patios will filter the light, frame the landscape of Quito and accompany a slow and continuous ascending museographic tour.