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On May 2, 2016, the Lima Art Museum (MALI) launched an international design competition to design an extension of the New Contemporary Art Wing of MALI estimated of 64,500 sqf of constructed area.

Peruvian Architects Anthony Gamarra Luque, from Gamarra & Associates (Arequipa) and Karla Chávez Benavides, from KLC Designs (Lima), young professionals passionate about themes related to art, architecture and urbanism, saw no better opportunity to put their knowledge and professional experiences for this international competition, being the generous destiny for their paths to cross, as they kindly invited the Peruvian Architect and Urbanist Manuel Ungaro Zevallos, of an extensive an ample professional trajectory, to put together a small but solid team that they called Transparencia77.

The program included two new exhibition halls, a library, classrooms, a cafeteria - restaurant, workshops and warehouses and the big challenge was to develop everything underground, in addition to having to design a public plaza and a comprehensive landscape proposal that had relation to the Exhibition Park, where the museum is located. There were few sustained working meetings in which the three members were present, however the communication between them was through telephone calls, emails, text messages and even communication through Facebook, which were key pieces that allowed them to assume a clear and forceful position of what for team of Transparencia 77 should be the urban - architectural intervention both in the extension of the MALI and the Exhibition Park respectively.

Each new architectural challenge in the professional life of every architect and urban planner involves reviewing one's own experiences as well as referring to outstanding works that have been very influential both in topological terms and in their innovation and their ability to solve a need. The present term MUSEO is a derivation of the Greek word "museum", that was the name of a temple of Athens dedicated to the muses that were the goddesses of the memory and to enter the museological typology is an exciting experience, tempting and sometimes risky in surpassing limits especially of a spatial nature, but apart from the basics in architectural examples, there is a tripartite rule on which any museum is developed whatever its destiny, and is that a museum is structured on three mutually linked elements : THE OBJECT OF ART, THE OBSERVER AND THE CONTINGENT SPACE, without this relation, a museum has no reason to be. They reviewed projects built as the Louvre Museum in France, the work of the architect IM Pei, which is very similar to what is required in the competition, the museum is developed underground, being the most redeemable for the intentions of our team, the proposal of the Architect in marking an urban landmark that defined the monumental entrance to the museum, in this case, its famous transparent Pyramid. Very impressive museums such as the Bern Historical Museum in Switzerland of MLZD, or the 9/11 National Memorial Museum in New York, United States, designed by Snohetta Architects, could not go unnoticed by the Transparencia 77. Above all that those mentioned generated an adequate interaction between the museum itself and the city through the presence of squares and routes. Finally, Alvaro Siza's work did not fail to reflect in his thoughts, the ability of the Portuguese architect to weave museum spaces through ramps of travel, to mark focal points that frame certain landscapes and the neatness of his spaces intended for the exhibition of Works of art ruled in their totality by the white color, propitiated in them so that in their proposal, the art galleries, the steps and ramps of route, had to be integrated through the white color in its vertical planes and the use of the wood In the forged, all marking a harmonious set that have as maximum aim, that of exalting works of art, which in the end, that becomes the meaning of every museum.

Although it is well known today that contemporary art museums come to represent key pieces that revitalize urban centers and often break schemes in the new ways of seeing art, in the case of Transparencia77, the new extension of the MALI should be a point of balance between the past and the present. Architecturally speaking, the proposal of the New Wing for Contemporary Art of the MALI was a great challenge, since it implied to be conceived underground, so the formal impact in relation to the west façade of the palace that shelters the MALI should be smaller; In that sense and inspired by the presence of the square as a forceful figure in the spatial organization of the MALI, Transparencia77 proposed to retake the square as an existing void from the current MALI, in this case in its large organizing patio and rephrase it in the proposal as a volume in a way of having it as a great urban landmark pointing to the presence of a new contemporary art gallery, that is to say, "to pass from the empty to the full", they proposed the Great Cube as a figure that marks its presence in contemporary terms but at the same time creating an harmonious ensemble with the massiveness of the palace of MALI.

This Great Cube represents a point of transition and preparation to take the user from a high spatial dynamics that will take place in the new square, to the calm almost liturgical atmosphere that will be generated in the environments of the new art gallery. With the Great Cube as a figure that strongly marks their presence in the new plaza, they also proposed to reflect their volumetry at floor level as a square surface fully glazed, so that a visual link is generated from the underground lobby of the new gallery in relation to the west facade of the MALI and the volumetric strength of the Great Cube as a portal to access the new facilities. From the urban point of view, Transparencia77 wanted to enhance the public space by rescuing the founding concepts of Lima such as the Plaza Mayor, "Spanish checker board", its horizontal, vertical and pre-Hispanic axes (diagonals) ordering and creating new pedestrian paths that connect and contemplate the beautiful architecture of the various existing pavilions and the striking beauty of the trees in its presence. They planned the creation of an urban garden in the area of ​​children, created an amphitheater that plays with the topography of the area with grass steps, this sector is intended as an area of ​​intercultural integration of the three regions of Peru. The team proposed that the entire outdoor lighting system be through solar poles and in some parts of the park wind energy be used.

The vicissitudes of an architect's life, such as travels, particular projects, geographic distances, family and many other things were not impediments to reach the final goal, which was finally culminated and sent the proposal to this international design competition, which they did not win, however the greatest satisfaction achieved was to strengthen professional and friendly ties.

This contest was considered one of the most important in recent years and its main objective was to consolidate the MALI as a cultural and civic platform of Lima, placing it as one of the most important institutions in Latin America with a view to the upcoming celebrations for the Bicentennial of the independence of Peru.

 The jury in charge of evaluating the proposals was integrated by architects and international critics; In total received 387 proposals which came from 56 countries.

 The jury selected as the winning project presented by the team Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos and Llama Urban Design, made up of the Spaniards Francisco Burgos and Ginés Garrido, the Canadian Angus Laurie and the Peruvian Mariana Leguía, whose proposal highlights the design of the Public Square Together with the current MALI building, proposes a unique space formed by a forest of jacarandas. This patio evokes the tradition of the limeño patio and it becomes the lobby of entrance to the park, the MALI and the new building, thus managing the circulation of the visitors and leading them in an orderly way towards the different accesses. The two finalist teams were:

The team consists of Lopes Brenna, Moramarco + Ventrella and Filippo Bolognese, represented by Giacomo Brenna and the SMAR Architecture Studio team, represented by Fernando Jerez and Belén Pérez. The jury also recognized 13 proposals with honorable mentions including a collaboration between Zaha Hadid and David Mutal, Mexicans from Productora, Campo Baeza and Llosa Cortegana.

The team of Transparencia 77 was conformed by Peruvian architects Manuel Ungaro Zevallos (Florida, USA), Anthony Gamarra Luque (Arequipa, PERU) and Karla Chávez Benavides (Lima, PERU).

Transparencia 77 congratulates the organizers of this contest: Museum of Art of Lima (MALI), Centennial Group, Municipality of Lima Metropolitana and the Company of Concessionary Metro de Lima-Line 2, to the winners of the contest: Burgos & Garrido Arquitectos y Llama Urban Design and Revista Iberoamericana that has already published this article.