INFO

Iceland Volcano Museum / Myvatn / Iceland / Open competition

Credits:

Project: Matteo Rossetti

Year: 2019

A black, silent, circular shape stands alone in the open landscape.
An ancestral and timeless geometry tries to syncrhonise with the geological time, which presence is so strong in Iceland.
Like a primitive circular ruin, it seems facing time.
Was it already there? Since when?
His solid, external curved wall could withstand severe weather, earthquakes and lava flows like a towering lighthouse in a storm.
In Iceland everything is to be hardly conquered: the dwarf birch, to gain some high, has to fight the wind looking for a sun ray more; long hiking is demanded to get to the secrets of this country.
The museum as well aims to be discovered.
It wants to be puzzling and surprising.
Entering the building a circular corridor surrounds the heart of the building: a dome, which presence is only outlined by a portion of his slope. Proceeding in the corridor the visitor finds the first entrance to the multipurpose room in which the only natural light comes from a circular void in the roof center. It seems to be under a mountain. Through the vertical distribution the visitor gets to the first floor. Natural light is now abundant and a wind protected circular court is visible in the center of the space where a gentle slope of the exterior of the dome is inviting to climb. In a few steps the visitor finally gets to the summit and from there the landscape opens 360 degrees around him. Notches on the roof surface indicate the main Myvatn landmarks: the lake, the Dimmuborgir rock formations, the Hverfijall crater, the Myvatn nature baths and the Krafla lava fields.
Today the wind is calm in Myvatn area. It's not raining and volcanos seem to be quiet. It's time to exit the building and explore the open vastness around it.

About sustainability: in a country with no forests and 99,9% of energy coming from renewables, a concrete structure with local gravel could be considered sustainable.
In addition, new lava and rock here are forming constantly, replacing the resources. We like to imagine the building at the end of his life cycle returning to the earth. Stone, rock and iron to the earth core.