Museo del Campesino
Architects: César Manrique and Jesús Soto, 1968 onwards
The Casa Museo del Campesino was realized from 1968 onwards, after an idea by César Manrique to create a monument and exhibition to celebrate the traditional Lanzarotean way of life. The result is a group of buildings forming a mock-village, which brings together visual arts and architecture to pay tribute to the emblematic figure of the local farmer (the “campesino”) and the cultural heritage of Lanzarote.
On the surface, the small village appears to emulate the vernacular buildings of Lanzarote, with attenuated features such as balconies, fireplaces, porches, and green-painted doors and windows. These buildings mainly house exhibits and workshops, and a small café. But the apparent historicism masks a much more dramatic gesture, which was only fully completed after Manrique’s death: A vast domed underground performance and party space, which blends several of the themes already present in the earlier work.
Located in the void of a former quarry, this space is not a natural phenomenon such as the “jameos” or lava bubbles Manrique used elsewhere, but that has not impeded him from designing it in much the same manner, including planted beds, stages and dancefloors, and even an artificial lava-clad waterfall and tunnel, which leads to a sweeping circular stair alighting dramatically and unexpectedly in the middle of a courtyard in the “traditional” part of the museum.
The concrete dome of the underground hall is level with the surrounding terrain, so from the outside little can be perceived of the space below, which is only revealed via stairs and ramp-sequences either from inside the café, or from the open courtyards of the “village”.
To create a widely visible landmark for the museum, practically located in the centre of the island, Manrique as the first part of the complex designed a tall sculptural piece titled Fecundidad (“Fertility”), made of recycled old tanks from fishing boats painted pure white.
Museo del Campesino
Architects: César Manrique and Jesús Soto, 1968 onwards
The Casa Museo del Campesino was realized from 1968 onwards, after an idea by César Manrique to create a monument and exhibition to celebrate the traditional Lanzarotean way of life. The result is a group of buildings forming a mock-village, which brings together visual arts and architecture to pay tribute to the emblematic figure of the local farmer (the “campesino”) and the cultural heritage of Lanzarote.
On the surface, the small village appears to emulate the vernacular buildings of Lanzarote, with attenuated features such as balconies, fireplaces, porches, and green-painted doors and windows. These buildings mainly house exhibits and workshops, and a small café. But the apparent historicism masks a much more dramatic gesture, which was only fully completed after Manrique’s death: A vast domed underground performance and party space, which blends several of the themes already present in the earlier work.
Located in the void of a former quarry, this space is not a natural phenomenon such as the “jameos” or lava bubbles Manrique used elsewhere, but that has not impeded him from designing it in much the same manner, including planted beds, stages and dancefloors, and even an artificial lava-clad waterfall and tunnel, which leads to a sweeping circular stair alighting dramatically and unexpectedly in the middle of a courtyard in the “traditional” part of the museum.
The concrete dome of the underground hall is level with the surrounding terrain, so from the outside little can be perceived of the space below, which is only revealed via stairs and ramp-sequences either from inside the café, or from the open courtyards of the “village”.
To create a widely visible landmark for the museum, practically located in the centre of the island, Manrique as the first part of the complex designed a tall sculptural piece titled Fecundidad (“Fertility”), made of recycled old tanks from fishing boats painted pure white.