Ecuador’s Government Reveals New Plans for National Museum After Public Rejects Competition-Winning Design

Architectural designs for Ecuador’s new $100 million USD national museum have been revealed for the second time in two weeks, after the first set of competition-winning plans were scrapped by the country’s government following a public outcry.

In an X post shared yesterday, Ecuador’s minister of infrastructure and transport, Roberto Luque, confirmed that following an assessment by an expert panel and a public vote, the proposal Living Strata, led by Tokyo-based SANAA architects, had been chosen as the new winning design for the National Museum of Ecuador (MuNA).

According to the post, over 50,000 Ecuadorians took part in the voting process, which was implemented by the department after angry citizens branded previous design plans a “real estate project masquerading as a cultural initiative”.

In a video announcing SANAA’s win, Luque said the team’s design represents Ecuador’s “history, geography, biodiversity, and culture”, and that these elements are clear in its “interiors, terraces, facades, museographic organisation, and landscape”. 

He continued: “Moreover, the museum does not appear as an isolated object, but rather as an extension of [the park that will host the building], featuring vegetated terraces, gardens, wetlands, native species, and open public spaces.

“...Starting tomorrow, we will build this dream together. We will not only construct a museum, but also create a cultural and architectural icon for our country and the region.”

These comments come just days after another X post, in which Luque confirmed that plans for Ecos del Sol (Echoes of the Sun) by Madrid-based architecture firm Studio Campo Baeza and Ecuador-based MAODA, would not be realised in the country’s capital of Quito, despite having been chosen by a specialist jury.

“We have listened to you attentively, and not only that—we agree with you,” he wrote on 10 July. “The proposed design for the National Museum is not what Ecuador needs, especially Quito.

“…The Museum is a promise that we will not fail to keep. But we must fulfil it with empathy for the city and its needs. Quito and the country’s culture deserve it.”

Luque was responding to a public petition launched days earlier, through which organisers expressed their “deep concern and resounding rejection” of Ecos del Sol (Echoes of the Sun), which they described as “a block alien to the reality and identity of the territory”. The petition, which has since been signed more than 20,000 times, called for an “immediate reevaluation” of the winning project.

Original competition winners Studio Campo Baeza and MAODA have, however, pushed back against the government’s decision to re-judge the competition, which they say “undermines the transparency and integrity of a public design competition whose terms and conditions were published and explicitly accepted by all participating teams”.

A joint statement shared by both firms last week read: “As participants in this competition, we wish to express our disagreement with the implementation of a third phase, which is not provided for under the terms and conditions.” 

The teams added that they had “not been allowed to take part in the public debate, nor to implement the improvements proposed to us by the competition jury”, and that they remain “committed to upholding public, free and open architectural competitions as a means through which architects can serve society”.

The competition to design a new National Museum of Ecuador was announced by Ecuador’s government in 2025, with architecture firms from around the world invited to submit designs for a 25,000 square-metre building in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Quito.

A brief said the space, which would house 1.2 million artworks and archaeological objects, should integrate exhibition halls, conservation and research areas, educational spaces, public zones, and a landscape plan designed to strengthen its connection to the urban environment. The call attracted more than 140 submissions, with 20 chosen teams developing their proposals ahead of a deadline on 17 June.