Luanda Currency Museum, New Angola Building Project, News, Design Images

Currency Museum Luanda

Contemporary Architecture in Africa design by COSTΛLOPES Architects

18 + 1 Apr 2017

Luanda’s Currency Museum

Currency Museum Luanda Building News

Design: COSTΛLOPES Architects

Photos © Fabrice Fouillet

The Currency Museum, which opened to the public in 2016, can be seen as one of the many steps towards establishing COSTΛLOPES as one of Angola’s leading architecture offices.

Located in downtown Luanda, the museum has quickly transformed the city’s urban landscape, while celebrating the concept of public space.

More than a building, this project can be described as an urban strategy – creating public spaces which will enrich the city and embrace its community.

The urban square welcomes the Currency Museum’s visitors and turns into a celebration of public space. At walking distance from the waterfront and the National Bank of Angola, the museum has literally carved its name in stone – a charming, typographical detail that can be seen from above.

With almost 4 800sqm, the museum reveals itself in the irregular stereotomy generated by excavation, with its entry announced by the stairs and the metallic parasols that produce shadow and urban scale. It includes two exhibition areas, permanent and temporary, complemented by public areas and an auditorium to support learning activities.

The museum aims to takes its visitors on a neatly and chronological journey through the centuries into modern day, displayed in both local and foreign currency. Younger visitors get the chance to interact with the exhibition through various activities, which creates a dynamic approach on how history can be presented. There are also large scale reproductions of coins – a striking visual treat for everyone.

Some of the recurring themes in COSTΛLOPES’s previous projects are also represented in the Currency Museum. Not only the building becomes an extension of the Luanda’s identity, but it also includes a public space overlooking the bay – a simple and charming way of connecting the city and its people.