While walking along the outermost exhibit space of the Pre Colombian museum’s upper level, I noticed the doors that lined along the perimeter walls. These doors were comprised of tall glass panes and fit the contemporary style of the rest of the exhibit space. But behind these doors were another set of doors that, in contrast, did not fit the space’s style. The outside doors consisted of a more classical style. This is where I noticed one of Smijlan Radic’s ideologies of “remembering the past”. The tall panes of the contemporary doors allow individuals to see and recognize the classical doors behind them. Radic designed these doors to maintain a modern style on the interior and also to recall the building’s original style. I realized that the exact threshold between contrasting these two styles is in the small void space in between the two doors. Here, Radic uses the void and materiality to also create the distinction between the interior and the exterior façade. A section drawing below shows separation of these two styles as the contemporary style comes from the interior space to the first door and then the classical style continues from the second door the exterior features including a small balcony.
