Podgorica Museum District

The project involves the creation of a new cultural district in Podgorica, where architecture and landscape merge into one another, creating a continuous experience between built and natural space. The three museums dedicated to contemporary art, natural history and architecture emerge delicately from the riverbank, reconnecting the city to the Morača River and creating a vibrant civic destination for residents and visitors alike.

The project redefines the relationship between culture, nature and urban life, transforming a neglected area into a dynamic park dedicated to art and culture. The buildings rise as sculptural extensions of the terrain, clad in stone reminiscent of the mountains of Montenegro, while their accessible green roofs return the occupied land to the public, offering elevated terraces and panoramic views of the river. What the architecture takes from the ground, it gives back as landscape: a symbolic act of reciprocity and care.

Sustainability is at the heart of the project. Passive and active environmental strategies reduce energy consumption for heating, cooling and lighting, while the use of local materials minimises the carbon footprint. The project enhances biodiversity through blue-green infrastructure, preserving existing vegetation and introducing hundreds of new trees and shrubs that improve air quality and microclimate.

The new neighbourhood aspires to become a social catalyst, a place where exhibitions, research, education and leisure converge in an open dialogue between art, science and community. The seamless continuity between indoor and outdoor spaces encourages interaction and inclusivity, making the cultural park a living organism that evolves with the city.

Ultimately, the project represents an architecture of connection between river and city, nature and culture, people and place, proposing a civic landscape that celebrates Montenegro's identity through a sustainable and poetic vision of the future.

Client: Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property of Montenegro
Location: Podgorica, Montenegro
Program: Cultural Complex – Museum District and Park of Arts & Culture
Site Area: 14,500 sqm
Status: on-going
Year: 2024
Landscape: Blue-Green Infrastructure and Roof Gardens

Lead Architects: A-FACT Architecture Factory (arch. Andrea Rossi, arch. Giovanni Sanna, arch. Pierluigi Turco)
Landscape Design: LAND Italia s.r.l.
Structural & Façade Engineering: Maffeis Engineering s.p.a.
Experience Design: Charcoalblue LLP
Renderings: EmmeWorks

Podgorica Museum District by a-fact architecture factory in Montenegro won the WA Award Cycle 52. Please find below the WA Award poster for this project.