Shape Culture
Cultural Sites as Contemporary Manifestos
Reflections on identity, belonging, and the changing role of cultural spaces.
Susanna Tradati reflects on the role of cultural architecture in our time.
Co-Founder, Nemesi Architects
When we design a cultural space, we rarely think of a building in the traditional sense of the term. For us, a cultural space is first and foremost a statement: a space capable of telling the story of the evolution of a city, a country, or a community, and of revealing the way in which a society chooses to represent itself.
For a long time, museums and cultural sites were viewed as repositories of memory. Today, their role is more complex. They do not merely preserve works of art or knowledge: they build identity, foster a sense of belonging, and help define the way a city is perceived, experienced, and remembered. They become catalysts for urban life, relationships, and transformation, capable of unleashing new energy and forging new connections among people, places, and communities.
Every cultural site speaks to two communities at the same time: the internal community, which recognizes in it a part of its own history and collective imagination; and the external community, which, through these spaces, forms a perception, a desire, and a new relationship with a place.
That is why designing a museum or a cultural space means grappling with a question that goes beyond architecture:
What do we want to share about ourselves?
And what image do we choose to leave behind for posterity?
National Museum of Archaeology and Earth Sciences | Rabat, Morocco
For us, investing in culture means building a legacy, but it also means taking a stand on the present. Every cultural building is a reflection of what a society considers important today and what it wishes to pass on to future generations.
Often, the most significant aspect of a project is not found in the brief. It isn’t reflected in square meters, functions, or technical requirements. It resides in a less visible realm: in the client’s aspirations, in the identity of a place, and in the cultural transformations taking place within a society.
Architecture must be able to listen even what is left unsaid.
In recent years, we have observed a profound change in the way people experience these spaces. Cultural venues are no longer simply places people pass through to observe or learn. Today, they are lived in, shared, and become part of broader collective experiences.
Between education and entertainment, between knowledge and experience, new ways of engaging with culture are emerging. Boundaries are becoming more fluid, and spaces are called upon to accommodate different ways of participating, coming together, and recognizing one another.
But even as these places open up to new forms of experience, a deeper need remains central to us: the need to belong.
National Museum of Archaeology and Earth Sciences | Rabat, Morocco
PM23 - Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti Foundation | Rome
We believe that every community needs places where it can rediscover a part of its identity—spaces capable of strengthening shared memory, fostering a collective sense of purpose, and transforming culture into a shared experience.
Added to this dimension is another challenge: that of the dialogue between architecture and exhibition design. The issue is not simply about the relationship between form and content. It is about forging a more subtle relationship, in which space and narrative support one another.
For us, shaping culture means exactly this: understanding the identity of a place, a city, a country, or a client, and transforming it into something built that can stand the test of time.
Why do some buildings, at a certain point, cease to be merely architecture?
They become part of the way a society chooses to portray itself.
LENS was born out of a desire to put curiosity and mindfulness back at the centre, to broaden our view of the world and continue to talk about beauty and current events, even as our environment — complex and polluted — sometimes seems to be falling apart.
