Pola Museum of Art

Located in a national park and surrounded by a forest of 300-year old beech trees, the design of the museum was to achieve a coexistence with the environment. Sitting 131 ft. (40 m.) from the road, the museum sits on a disk-shaped foundation 243 ft. (74 m.) in diameter laid three stories underground, and is resiliently supported at 16 bearing points on laminated rubber. Following the line of the gentle slope on which it sits, the building is kept to a height of 26 ft. (8 m.) with most of its volumne below ground, so it appears to melt into the landscape.

The round footprint of the building allows groundwater of flow unhindered and provides a high degree of stability against earth pressure. Floating the entire building provides a base isolated structure which protects from earthquakes, and also provides direct access to all parts of the building, allowing replacement of the exterior wall and other building parts that are factory-made to allow for replacement, thus ensuring that this museum building will endure long into the future.