With the intent of gaining more and better space for the exhibition of its various collections and the enjoyment of its public, the Museo de Arte de Medellín, located for more than three decades in Medellin's traditional Carlos E. Restrepo Neighborhood, has initiated its expansion project. The MAMM expansion project was conceived in the spirit of moving significantly forward the development hub being built on Ciudad del Río, where culture and the arts become a point of reference for an area of Medellin historically characterized as an industrial center. The project began in the year 2000 with the launch of an open international call for architects to present proposals for a new building. The winners were the 51-1 architecture office (Peru) and Ctrl G (Colombia). Their project will feature exhibition galleries, multiple-use rooms, a 250-seat film and music theater, café, bookstore, and museum store, as well as service spaces and educational programs, an expansion of the reserve areas, an open archive, and parking lots. The total construction area will be 7,220 square meters, including parking areas. María Mercedes González, Director of MAMM, said about the new building: "It is wholly contemporary, very much in line with the museum; it dialogs with its surroundings and, while the expansion is initially physical, it really is an expansion of a great artistic and cultural project". This "dream" (as the museum has described it) will open its doors next September. Emiliano Valdés, the new MAMM curator, will be in charge of expanding the museum's artistic and cultural project in the country. Budget: 24,000 million pesos Sponsors: 50% Medellin Municipal Government + 50% private support Construction site: East side of the old Talleres Robledo building