Rossi regarded the museum as a ‘viewing factory’. The new museum was to be a distinctive building which would do optimal justice to the works of art. The best solution for this was an original variation on the classical museum building; a succession of galleries lit from the top and sides, in a clear structure of wings arranged round one central staircase.

The E-shaped building, with four storeys and an exhibition space is constructed of traditional materials, like brick, natural stone and zinc, around a skeleton of concrete and steel. Indoors, the floors are mainly made of keruing wood. However, the most natural factor of all is the daylight, as the central staircase is actually a covered street, where you feel almost as if you were outdoors. On the second floor, the daylight interacts with the works of art. Walking around, the visitor goes through corridors alternately on the south and north sides of the central stairwell. The lighting effect is provided by the contrast between open and shut that dominates the building. The façades at the front and sides are shut, and the façades of the central wing, which forms the axis of the building, are open. This interplay of light and routing is emphasised by horizontal and vertical openings, which turn the visit into a ‘promenade architecturale’.