Former AA SED students Pierluigi Turco and Andrea Rossi, alongside Giovanni Sanna, of the London and Milan based studio, a-fact, have won the international competition to build a Museum of Contemporary Art, Natural History Museum, and a Park of Arts and Culture in Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro. The winning scheme was selected by the jury from a pool of 48 schemes that came from practices including Sou Fujimoto, Junya Ishigami, Diller Scofidio + Renfro, Snøhetta, MCA - Mario Cucinella Architects and Stefano Boeri Architetti.

The scheme proposed by a-fact presents ‘an iconic architecture that connects culture and nature by rejoining the Morača River with the city’, combining contemporary construction techniques with the use of local materials. Crowned with green roofs, the volumes emerge on the river scenery with a stone cladding that pays homage to the encircling mountains. The landscape design starts with an analysis of the site in order to incorporate existing values and improve the park’s biodiversity. The project contributes to regenerating the river and integrates passive and active environmental strategies to reduce consumption of energy and potable water.

Image: The winning scheme by a-fact.