Architecture itself is a powerfull intervention in natural environments. The founders of muarco made high demands on the architectural design and the technical solutions.
As a person, I don’t want to build my fortune on someone else’s misfortune. The task of showing, protecting and preserving for the architecture of a museum should not be based on the destruction of nature.
Juan Petry
Old windows are refurbished and reused.
Mortar and plaster is based on local excavation soil.
Local construction material like ceramic bricks are used.
Donations of material from companies and friends are used as well.
Necessary construction chemistry is limited to a minimum.
Also the building itself is embedded in the natural environment between productive almond and carob trees.
In spring 2014 CASAdelDRAGON inaugurated the color garden in Cervera del Maestre. The local spanish name is jardi d’colors / laboratorio d’artistes and refer the contemporary artistic approach of the garden area. Five years later the artist residence and think tank CASAdelDRAGON founded MUARCO, initiated by the artists Jo Pellenz and Juan Petry in 2019/2020.
What means museum in times of reconstruction – this is the question, and MUARCO is the place to discover that.
Juan Petry
As part of the groundbreaking ceremony the artists placed a message in a bottle in the foundation. Several helpers contributed with a message to the future.
muarco – the first step for the new museum of contemporary art
One important goal for the museum project was from the beginning, to use as much as possible local material for the construction and the upcycling of materials. All the groundbreaking soil is re-used as mortar (mixed with cal).
The colorgarden is located in the region of Pais Valenciano. This region is famous for ceramic products and therefor the walls are builded with local produced bricks.
The foundation is also based on local gravel material.
The foundation is covered by a bitumen layer to protect later buildung and art in the exhibition space from huminity.
The morter is based on the local soil. The bitumen layer protect the wall from ground huminty.
Refurbished pieces of pallet wood are also used: upcycling as much as possible is the goal.
The screed in the basement will support even heavy artworks.
MUARCO, embbeded in the colorgarden of CASAdelDRAGON and part of the campus of UNIIE, the free university of informal learning, is the place for contemporary art.
muarco – the green roof of the museum with local plants
The critical examination of the museum as an institution is also an inherent part of the concept.
On the sunny day of 01 january 2020 at 2 pm the muarco groundbreaking ceremony took place in Pais Valenciano, close to the village of Cervera del Maestre.
Art today is part of culture tomorrow.
Juan Petry Co-Founder of muarco
Cervera del Maestre, a village in the mountains of Castellon with 600 inhabitants is populated by europeans from more than 20 different nationalities. The international flair and commitment to european art and culture embedded in a impressive spanish history characterizes this place and enables a great foundation for new participatory socio-cultural projects like muarco, the museo de arte contemporaneo.
The guests of the artist residence CASAdelDRAGON – coming from Australia, Zimbabwe, Malta, Italy, France, Spain and Germany – enjoyed a lot to start digging a hole between the almond and carob trees in a beautiful valley of the maestrazgo region.
You are welcome! Follow us here and enjoy muarco, the brand new museum of contemporary art. In the next weeks you have the chance to discover the progress, to enjoy the story behind and to be an online eyewitness of the building process.
There are challenging things comming up. We will continue to develop a social space for all.
