Mimesis Museum by Álvaro Siza

DATE

29.01.2026

Designed by Álvaro Siza together with Carlos Castanheira and Jun Sung Kim, the building is located in Paju Book City, South Korea, and proposes an architecture constructed through movement, perception, and the bodily experience of space. More than a conventional museum, Mimesis functions as a spatial sequence that gradually reveals itself, almost as if the building itself were another piece in the collection.

From the outside, the museum appears as a white, continuous, and seemingly abstract form, instantly recognizable within Siza’s architectural language. There is no obvious main façade, nor a dominant gesture imposed on the visitor. Instead, the building relies on soft curves, subtle breaks, and shifts in scale that engage with the urban context in a restrained manner. This initial ambiguity is deliberate: the project does not seek to be immediately understood, but rather invites us to enter and discover it from within.

The interior route is undoubtedly the heart of the project. Ramps, stairs, and corridors are linked together, creating a fluid experience in which architecture guides movement without the need for explicit signage. Natural light enters in a controlled way, setting rhythms and pauses and accompanying the visitor throughout the journey. Here, Siza once again demonstrates his mastery in using light as an architectural material, capable of transforming space without resorting to artifices.

The museum’s name, Mimesis, is no coincidence. The building constantly engages with the idea of imitation and reinterpretation: of the moving body, of the urban landscape, of the history of modern architecture. There are no grand gestures or spectacular solutions; everything is constructed through a quiet, almost domestic logic, where each decision feels inevitable. It is an architecture that does not shout, yet stays with you long after you have walked through it.

Overall, the Mimesis Museum is a very clear example of how Álvaro Siza understands architecture as experience rather than object. A building that is discovered by walking through it, that demands time and attention, and that shows how complexity can arise from seemingly simple operations. It is a particularly interesting work for architects and students, as it teaches that designing means constructing a way of inhabiting and of looking at space.

MARCH VALENCIA | ARQUITECTURA Y DISEÑO

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