Exterior of the Museo de Sitio de Tehuacán el Viejo, integrated into the archaeological landscape

Archaeology and landscape · Museum exhibition design · 2016

Tehuacán Viejo Site Museum

Proyecto Museo developed the exhibition design for presenting the ancient city of Ndachjian through an architecture of visual restraint: transparent display cases, natural light, restrained graphics, and interpretive media subordinated to the collection.

Location: San Diego Chalma, Tehuacán, Puebla
Institution: Secretaría de Cultura / INAH
Typology: Archaeological site museum
Opening: 2017

Ndachjian

The collection and the site speak at the same scale

Tehuacán el Viejo was a major political and religious center of the Nguiwa, or Popoloca, culture during the Postclassic period. The museum introduces visitors to that city through archaeological objects, plans, animations, and audiovisual interpretation.

The exhibition-design response avoids competing with the material density of the objects. The visitor route keeps the sculptures, ceramics, building architecture, and presence of the archaeological landscape legible.

The historical and collection description is based on institutional information from INAH and the Sistema de Información Cultural. Proyecto Museo’s authorship corresponds to the museum exhibition design and display systems documented in this project record.

80+Piezas arqueológicas en exhibición

3Thematic framework of the permanent visitor route

2017Año de apertura al público

Central gallery of the Museo de Sitio de Tehuacán el Viejo with conservation display cases — Central gallery: spatial clarity, transparent display cases and continuous reading of the collection. Proyecto Museo archive.

Exhibition-design clarity

An open, precise and luminous gallery

Low-visual-interference display cases organize the collection without fragmenting the perception of the gallery. White backgrounds, interpretive panels, and red graphic accents establish clear hierarchies.

01 Transparent display cases connect objects, gallery and landscape.
02 Restrained graphics support interpretation without dominating it.
03 Interpretive media integrated into the archaeological narrative.

Visual archive

Objects, display cases and visitor routes

The new photographs replace the low-resolution archive. The selection shows both the monumental scale of the xantiles and the spatial organization of the galleries.

Xantiles and archaeological sculptures at the Museo de Sitio de Tehuacán el Viejo — Xantiles and archaeological sculpture presented as the gallery’s visual core. Proyecto Museo archive.

Clay sculptures in a gallery at the Museo de Sitio de Tehuacán el Viejo — Group of clay sculptures and interpretive graphics. Proyecto Museo archive.

Interior perspective of the Museo de Sitio de Tehuacán el Viejo — Interior perspective and sequence of display systems. Proyecto Museo archive.

Gallery at the Museo de Sitio de Tehuacán el Viejo with natural light and archaeological objects — Natural light, interpretive drawings and archaeological objects in conservation display cases. Proyecto Museo archive.

Professional scope

Museum exhibition design in service of archaeological evidence

The project integrates collection, conservation, information and visitor circulation. Archaeological research and custody of the objects are the responsibility of INAH; this page documents Proyecto Museo’s participation in the exhibition-design solution.

INAH source ↗SIC source ↗

Proyecto Museo participation: Museum exhibition design and spatial organization of visitor circulation.
Display systems: Conservation display cases, bases and mounts for the archaeological collection.
Interpretation: Integration of exhibition graphics, drawings, animation and audiovisual media.
Collection: Monumental stone and clay sculpture, ceramics, figurines and lithic material from the site.
Museum themes: Architecture; religious life; cultural and commercial exchange.

View an exhibition-design project All cultural projects Museo de la Evolución Tehuacán