Alejandro Zaera-Polo Responds to Ecuador's Culture Minister Over Museo Nacional de Quito Competition Controversy

Architect Alejandro Zaera-Polo, a member of the international jury for the Museo Nacional de Quito (MuNa) competition, addressed Ecuador's Minister of Culture, Luque, in an open letter on Arquine. He expressed his disapproval of the minister's choice to disregard the jury's decision in favor of an online poll involving approximately 50,000 voters, which accounted for only 15% of the outcome for the $100 million project. Zaera-Polo criticized the formation of a secondary jury comprised of real estate developers (Schwartzkopf, Nobis, Campana) involved in nearby tower constructions, questioning the winning design's technical aspects like structural integrity and drainage within a two-year timeframe. He also condemned the participation of three Pritzker Prize laureates, labeling it a decline in professional standards. Furthermore, he accused the government of masking manipulation in the online vote, invoking Walter Lippmann's 'phantom public' notion, and emphasized that the museum is a collective asset for all Ecuadorians, asserting that populism conflicts with expertise.