The permanent exhibition’s primary objective
is to unveil the strong influence of the landscape
on human activities and habitation
through the course of time.
The archaeological museum is situated
in a small town by the sea, near Monemvasia.
It’s permanent exhibition hosts artefacts
from the nearby archaeological sites,
that come from a vast chronological era,
from prehistoric to roman times.
The main aim of the exhibition
is to present the almost unknown story of this region
to a greater audience, in a vivid yet simple way,
sheading light to the region’s interesting landscapes,
the only unaltered element,
yet a crucial factor of shaping history and human activities through time.
Visitors are encouraged to follow a traveller’ s path,
whose identity is revealed only at the end of the exhibition,
as a narrative trick: he is the famous Pausanias.
One can find the archaeological sites’ exhibits in groups,
like travelling on the area’s map,
trying to think about the life of its ancient residents.
To do that, the exhibition design used two major tools.
The first is a raised wooden floor, where sites Pausanias did see
are presented in a lower level (roman times),
whereas those unknown to him (prehistoric times)
are presented “inside” the wooden floor,
which often curves, to form benches and showcases.
The second tool is the use of contemporary photography
and the use of color in special handmade traditional textures.
Using big scale, high resolution photos of inaccessible sites of the region,
we created an effect of “almost being there”.
The use of colors one can find in nature and the local villages,
marks the coast, hinterland and urban relics,
bring the landscape feeling inside the museum.
The shaping of a small museum shop, a room for various activities,
storage rooms and a modern conservation laboratory
were also part of the project.
The museum belongs to the Greek Ministry of Culture
and was co-funded by the European Union.
PROJECT DATA
DESIGN – CONSTRUCTION
2008 – 2015
COLLABORATORS
Anna Kallinikidou,
archaeologist-museologist
Nikoletta Palaiologou
archaeologist-museologist
Chryssi Nikoloutsou, architect
Artemis Kopsida, architect
and
the archaeologists
of the 5th Clasical and Prehistoric Antiquites
of the Greek Ministry of Culture
Special thanks go to
Mrs Adamantia Vasilogramvrou
ex-director of the 5th Ephorate
for her trust in our work.
SURFACE
280m²
BUDGET
930.000€