The Cistern
A historic water cistern turned exhibition space while keeping its darkness intact.
The Cistern opens a structure that held water for centuries to a new use without erasing its memory. The rule of intervention is singular — add nothing, only make circulation possible.
Visitors move along a web of slender steel bridges threading through the forest of columns. The bridges lift off the floor and never touch the historic stone.
Lighting is kept to a minimum; darkness is the true material of the space. A sheet of water works like a mirror, doubling the volume.
The Cistern