The jury particularly highlighted the ability of Palma and Taller TO’s proposal to integrate architecture, public space, and cultural experience, as well as its relationship with the urban context and its vision of the museum as an open and accessible cultural infrastructure — a new cultural infrastructure open to the city, conceived through the identity, climate, and landscape of Panama.
“The new headquarters of the Museum of Contemporary Art – MAC Panamá is conceived as a living cultural infrastructure open to the city. Designed from the perspective of Panamanian identity, climate, and landscape, the project proposes a contemporary, democratic, and sustainable architecture, conceived through collaboration to imagine new forms of encounter, culture, and urban life,” the jury stated.
The jury also especially valued the positive message of interdisciplinary collaboration behind the proposal, understanding that contemporary architecture is built through collective work, the exchange of knowledge, and the recognition of diverse teams.
Rendering. MAC Panama new by Palma and Taller T-O.
Mexico was the country with the highest number of participating teams, reflecting both the regional scope of the call and the international interest generated by the process led by MAC Panamá.
In the first evaluation phase, the jury selected five finalist teams from among 363 proposals submitted from 56 countries. The selected studios were Consorcio UTM Ateliers, Lanza Atelier, Productora, Palma + Taller TO, and Yektajo Architects. During the second stage of the competition, each team received a document containing observations and recommendations prepared by the jury to further develop and refine their proposals before the final submission. The revised versions were subsequently evaluated again as part of the final selection process.
Rendering. MAC Panama new by Palma and Taller T-O.
The proposals underwent a multi-round process of evaluation and collective discussion by a jury composed of David Basulto, José Esparza Chong Cuy, Martha Thorne, and, on behalf of MAC Panamá, Antonio Murzi (President of the Board of Directors), Graciela Quelquejeu de Chapman (Co-founder), and Ramón Zafrani and Annamaria Zampogna (architectural advisors). The competition was coordinated by Ginnette Gotti.
The future headquarters will be located in the corregimiento of San Francisco, in a strategic sector of the city with the potential to consolidate itself as a new hub of cultural and urban activity.
The process will now continue with the technical development of the project and the coordination of local professionals and stakeholders to move toward its future construction.
