Fossil museum of the Mount San Giorgio, Meride, Switzerland, 2006-2012

Project: 2006
Construction: 2012
Client: Municipality of Meride, Foundation Avv. Ercole Doninelli
Useful surface: 487 m²
Volume: 3’478 m³

The project required the conversion of some buildings that were near the courtyard (a hay loft and some storages). The interior spaces have been rearranged both in plan and elevation to create an exhibition path. On entering the museum, a wide empty space permits the visitor to have an immediate overall view of the building that, thanks to its layout and the choice of materials, gains in visual impact. The oxidized (rusted) iron covering the walls forms suggestive “windows” that preserve the moulds of fossils, as if they were set inside the earth’s crust. On the upper floors there are more composed exhibition spaces for a careful reading of the finds displayed all along the walls.