Like a seismic fault line, the architectural crusts of planet earth are lifted and mingled to form an underlying continuous space of caves and niches, lookouts and overhangs. Rather than a single perimeter delineating an interior and an exterior, the façade is conceived as a sinuous membrane meandering across the site, delineating interior spaces and exterior gardens in a seamless continuum oscillating between the city and the park.

As a projection of a geometrically perfect circle on to the steep slope, the new gallery is conceived as a courtyard building that combines a pure geometrical layout with a sensitive adaption to the landscape. The three‐dimensional imprint of the landscape creates a protective ring around the museum’s focal point, the sculpture garden where visitors, personnel, exhibition merge with culture and nature, inside and outside.

Since the infrastructure is the most important element, the rest of the program is integrated with it as much as possible. In order to create a physical interface, the elevated vacuum tube wraps around itself and descends as a gentle ramp, ending in an airlock that allows for save entry and exits for pods. While the pill shaped loop of the tube forms the exterior façade of the facility, the support structure gets extended towards the interior as a sequence of concrete frames with fileted corners for lateral support.

The façade is composed almost entirely of , prefabricated concrete panels interspersed with windows of various sizes to control the amount of light entering inside and to create a sense of transparency. The concrete slabs, which weigh up to . tons, are sandblasted to expose its raw qualities and to texture the surface with the local sandstone of Bordeaux. Yellow granules for brightness and warmth radiate the building in the sun and help integrate MÉCA as a familiar yet new vernacular sight to the city.

In , Copenhagen was experiencing what happens to many cities today: the real-estate prices had skyrocketed, propelling an exodus of lower and middle-income residents who could no longer afford to live in the capital. An ambitious political campaign to create new, affordable homes within years was launched. BIG responded by proposing Clover Block &#; a km long perimeter block surrounding the centrally located sports and soccer field Klovermarken.