Metropolitan Museum of Manila
How to reinvent the first contemporary art museum of the Philippines?
This new 3,000 sqm space, spread over three levels in Bonifacio Global City, marks a new epoch for the Metropolitan Museum of Manila, which first opened in 1976.

Location
Manila, Philippines
Research Areas Parametric Design
Typology Civic Building
Size
Medium
Status Complete
Project Team Carlos Arnaiz
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The design pays homage to the landscapes of the Philippines, drawing inspiration from its forests, volcanic history, and the geocultural richness of its archipelagos. Modular moveable wooden decks and tables animate the palm-planted entrance plaza, creating flexible gathering centers that echo the geographic form of the Philippine islands. The color palette evokes the country’s beaches — rich green foliage, muted earth tones, and white sands — while earth-colored pavers and pebbled areas lend a casual rhythm that continues the beach motif.
Visitors pass into the lobby, a lush space inspired by the experience of the forest. Here, an arcade of green steel tubes envelops the grand double-height reception area, calling to mind tree canopies and filtered light. The reception lounge is finished in mossy greys, with concrete floors and walls the color of volcanic ash, evoking solemnity. Reeded glass partitions separate the ground-floor galleries from reception, creating a play of opacity and transparency.

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On the second floor is the Sky Room — a lighter, more ethereal space than the earthy reception lounge — where bluer hues and softer materials predominate. Designed as a place of reflection and solitary contemplation, the Sky Room features islands of seating emerging from a sculpted terrazzo floorscape with projection screens on two sides. The flowing forms of the Sky Room are informed by parametric design, recalling the rippling patterns of karesansui, traditional Japanese rock gardens. A staircase enclosed in a folding translucent mesh rises from the Sky Room, adding a sculptural presence and enclosing visitors in airy mesh folds as they ascend to the upper galleries.

In addition to the lobby and Sky Room, the program includes galleries, offices, and conservation areas. Circulation spaces are conceived as spacious, cathedral-like halls filled with natural light, enabling the display and transport of large-scale artworks while organizing visitors’ routes through the museum.
The new Metropolitan Museum of Manila, a contemporary reinterpretation of Filipino identity through modular flexibility and parametric design, opened to visitors in January 2022.