Museum of Contemporary Art, Panama

The two-stage competition seeks proposals for a new 4,671m² museum to be constricted on a 3,801m² site within the downtown Punta Pacífica district of Panama City.

The project – with a total construction budget of USD $20 million – will transform a plot that was formerly earmarked for a shelved high-rise development and already features foundations.

The completed museum will also include 1,000m² of commercial spaces and an 82-cpacity car park. Proposals must promote sustainability and respond to Panama City’s tropical climate while also fostering public art engagement.

According to the brief: ‘The Museum of Contemporary Art of Panama (MAC Panama) announces the launch of an international architecture competition for the design of its new headquarters, an initiative that marks a turning point in the history of the museum and in the consolidation of Panama as a cultural benchmark in Latin America.

‘With over six decades of history, the MAC Panamá has been the leading space dedicated to modern and contemporary art in the country. The creation of a new location reflects a strategic vision of institutional expansion, aimed at strengthening its role as a center for creation, education, and critical thinking, and consolidating its connection with the local and international artistic community.’

Founded in 1962 as Instituto Panameño de Arte (Panarte), MAC Panama hosts more than 1,200 works in its collection and is currently based inside a former masonic temple on Calle San Blas.

The latest competition comes two years after an open international ideas contest was held for a new temporary art space with Panama’s historic Panama La Vieja complex.

Submissions to the contest’s first anonymous round must include five A1-sized sheets featuring a concept, plans at 1:200/1:250 scale, sections of elevations at 1:200 scale and axonometric drawings. Details of five relevant previous projects will also be required.

Judges will include David Basulto, founder and director of ArchDaily; José Esparza Chong Cuy, executive director and chief curator at Storefront for Art and Architecture; the academic, curator, editor and author Martha Thorne; and Antonio Murzi, chair of MAC Panama.

Up to five finalists will proceed to the competition’s second stage. The winner of the estimated $850,000 design contract will be announced in late May.