From underutilised hardwood to landmark design: the MACA museum in Uruguay

From underutilised hardwood to landmark design: the MACA museum in Uruguay

Since 2022, the Museum of Contemporary Art Atchugarry in Uruguay has formed a bridge between art, architecture and engineering. The structure of the museum was built from a local hardwood species (Eucalyptus), which is rarely used in building worldwide. The pioneering construction was made possible through an interdisciplinary collaboration, proving that underused wood resources can successfully be turned into innovative, sustainable and beautiful design solutions that align with the values of the New European Bauhaus. 

The MACA and its artful timber structure

The Museum of Contemporary Art Atchugarry (MACA) in Uruguay is set in a 40-hectare, green landscape featuring exhibition halls, an open-air amphitheatre, and an educational space. Its main room is made up of a complex, curved 3D structure, built from local eucalyptus (Eucalyptus grandis) glued laminated timber (GL). The MACA was privately funded, but the museum is free and open to the public. 

 

Instead of using steel or concrete, the design team decided to create the load-bearing structure in a sustainable, local hardwood, which is quite uncommon. “We used wood because it’s an organic material, and the same as the trees you can see in the landscape surrounding the MACA”, says sculptor and museum owner Pablo Atchugarry. “The trees are now somehow also present inside of the museum. Using a type of hardwood that is grown in Uruguay has added to the experience.” 

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Despite its strength, durability and availability, hardwood is not yet widely used in construction because it is generally more difficult and expensive to process than softwood. Due to a lack of local manufacturers at that time, the sawn timber for the MACA was shipped to France where it was processed into unique pieces, then reimported for assembly into the curved museum structure. Eucalyptus had the right mechanical properties and aesthetics to build the museum. The use of hardwood GL brings out the curved design, lends it a natural elegance, and helps it blend in with the museum’s natural surroundings – as  an artful extension. 

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Federico Atchugarry, engineer

“While Uruguay has many forest resources, the MACA was the first building to use domestic hardwood for its design. It would have been less challenging to use imported spruce or pine, but this shows developers, investors and architects that such structural projects can be carried out using local wood.” 

 

Photo: Pablo Atchugarry (left) and Federico Atchugarry (right)

A pioneering collaboration without boundaries

The museum’s successful construction results from an international and multidisciplinary collaboration across the value chain, linking South America and Europe. With different nationalities and working locations, the members of the design team built on their national and international experiences in working with timber, to match the museum’s needs with long-term architectural and structural designs. “There were no precedents for complex building designs made of hardwood GL in Uruguay”, says Federico Atchugarry. “I was able to make the link with wood thanks to a post-graduate course in timber structures which I had taken at the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad de la República. Architect Carlos Ott had experience working with large timber structures in Chile. After the university delivered a positive feasibility study, we put our expertise together to plan the entire process.” 

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Courses on designing timber structures, both for architects and engineers, have helped professionals perceive timber as a common material to safely and efficiently design buildings. Drawing on European technical standards and design codes has also been crucial for rapid progress in a country such as Uruguay with only a very recent forest tradition.

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Vanesa Baño, engineer

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Engineer Vanesa Baño taught the post-graduate course Federico had taken part in. She and her  colleagues at Oak Engineering  designed the MACA’s timber structure. “Education has been key to the growth of timber construction in Uruguay”, she states.

“The MACA undoubtedly set a milestone for hardwood timber construction in Uruguay and beyond”, Federico adds. “After it was built, other projects started using hardwood for construction, and several production plants for structurally certified timber were set up. Thanks to this significant momentum, timber construction in Uruguay has now become a reality.”

 

Making better use of underutilised wood for design, sustainability and beauty

With the choice for eucalyptus, the MACA aligns with the values of the New European Bauhaus (NEB): sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics. The European Commission launched the NEB in 2021 to foster the green transition in built environments. The MACA has become an inspiration for designers, architects and engineers to make better use of underutilised wood resources from sustainable forest management. It shows that creative collaboration can result in welcoming, complex wooden building structures that hold both innovation and history in their designs. 

WoodStock shares these values, exploring climate-smart solutions to increase the use of underutilised wood in European construction. This includes hardwood, damaged or low-quality wood, post-consumer and residual wood. WoodStock highlights inspiring examples, like the MACA, to promote sustainable wood construction practices. The MACA shows that European knowledge and technical standards can support the development of new, global timber value chains. At the same time, this example offers lessons for Europe on how to make better use of underused hardwood resources.

Federico highlights: “While using this type of wood in building still poses some challenges, the MACA shows how hardwood GL can be designed and manufactured while maintaining aesthetics. In complex wooden structures, underutilised wood fits perfectly into designs where nature is the protagonist of the story.”
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The multidisciplinary team that designed the MACA’s timber structure included 

 

More information about the design and construction of the timber structure of the MACA museum on Zenodo-InnovaWood.