MACBAC - PISCINA MIRABILIS
Piscina Mirabilis—as its name implies—is full of wonder. It is a secret, secluded gem in Bacoli with a gloomy cistern that turns into a divine, cathedral-like space when it is penetrated by the sun's rays. With its uplifting atmosphere, the site already functions as a secret pilgrimage destination. Thus, fundamentally repurposing it would be a mistake, and filling it with large groups of people and objects would undoubtedly take its toll on the sanctity of the cistern. While the hidden, subterranean cistern offers wonders beyond imagination, its open-air terrace, with a truly unique position on top of Bacoli Hill, provides stunning views of the entire area.
In our proposal, we aim to offer a solution where Piscina Mirabilis and MACBAC (Museo d'Arte Contemporanea di Bacoli) could coexist in symbiosis and elevate the potential of each other to even greater heights. We would preserve the hidden sanctity of the cistern and highlight the luminosity of the terrace while offering a large variety of exhibition spaces, dominated by playful opposites of inside-outside, darkness-light, ancient-new, and subterranean-celestial, to move away from the monotony of the white cube.
The museum path is composed like a novel, in which the three acts each have their separate levels in the building. The journey begins with descending to the cistern, where a unique transition takes place between the museum space and the outside world. Visitors are detached from the city streets, and the wonderous site sets the tone for their entire journey. Once below ground, visitors can decide whether they only want to experience Piscina Mirabilis in its original beauty and then leave, or proceed to the next phase. The sleek metal open elevator at the center of the cistern provides a subtle connection between the levels, allowing the visitors to experience the reservoir from different elevations.
Most of the program (and the “plot”) takes place on the terrace level, filled with different paths and twists. Arriving there, visitors find themselves in a spacious crossroads area with the reception, the cafe and the bookshop all just a few steps away. It is organized into a welcoming, open layout, yet the more secluded indoors gallery space and open-air sculpture garden are also accessible from here. This middle level serves as a transition between the darker, mysterious underground space and the spacious, luminous roof: it is surrounded by a tall stone wall to seal it from the outer world and let the attention concentrate on the artworks. Its structure has been carefully arranged so that most of the original skylights of the cistern are not built upon. Letting the rays of the sun shine through leaves the atmosphere intact below and offers only a glimpse of the movements of the dynamic terrace floor.
After experiencing the middle level, the journey leads onto the roof that feels as if it gradually grew out of the terrace floor, filled with outdoor art. The climax is reached at the highest point of the roof, where visitors can enjoy the unparalleled views of Lago Miseno as well as the sea and mountains surrounding the bay area. After standing on top of the Bacoli Hill, visitors enter a final gallery space, where they can take the elevator and exit the building, just where the journey began.
