FONDAZIONE MUSEO PINO PASCALI
…spero di avere un pezzo di terra che si specchi sul mare, un domani…
Pino Pascali
Only a few meters from his sea, an old municipal slaughterhouse hosts the Museum Foundation dedicated to the work and figure of Pino Pascali, leading artist of Arte Povera, born in Bari and prematurely passed away in the sixties. As a new museum, the nineteenth-century building - already interested by a previous expansion that had greatly altered its character - required completion and redevelopment of internal and external spaces, as well as the activation of new functional areas, in order to adapt them to the specific requirements of a place for contemporary art. The location of the building suggested a project strongly focused on the relationship with the geographical and urban context, specifically through the creation of a small park for sculptures open to the neighborhood and the sea, and the construction of a public pathway connecting the street to the panoramic terrace, now characterized by large areas paved in wood and placed at different levels, destined to hosting exhibitions and outdoor events.
As for the pre-existing building, the project involved the redesign of elevations and entrances; the creation of a bookshop, the setting up of a cafeteria with large windows overlooking the sea and an outdoor area; the recovery of former deposits in the basement, now housing the Foundation's permanent collection. New windows and skylights has optimized the diffusion of natural light inside the museum, while redefining, with flexible structures, accesses, areas and paths. The white color, typical of the region, has been widely proposed: in the exterior, to distinguish the new volumes from the nineteenth-century building; in the exhibition and reception areas at main floor, to create neutral and luminous spaces. The more intimate atmosphere created by dark finishes was preferred for the basement, mainly hosting permanent installations and video projections.
