Jean Nouvel completes at the Reina Sofia Museum

Three new buildings organised around a courtyard have been added to the Reina Sofia Museum, one of Madrid’s most visited cultural venues. The museum takes on a triangular block consisting of three separate buildings, the first, to the south, is a library; the second, for meetings, bar and restaurant and the third, to the north, is for temporary exhibitions and the only one with a direct connection to the museum. The new buildings were designed by French architect Jean Nouvel who has aimed to ensure that the existing building remained clearly dominant and the new buildings simply become a ‘gentle and natural intervention’ To create an intimacy and quality of light suitable for study the roof is precisely punctured to bring natural light into the library, the exhibitions and into the courtyard.