The museum is located in the historic city center of Malaga, Spain, Pablo Picasso's birthplace.  At the heart of the museum complex, the 16th-century Palacio de Buenavista has been fully renovated, restored and expanded.  Additionally, six new buildings have been designed and constructed to house the museum's program.  Opened in October 2003, Phase I includes exhibition galleries, museum offices, a conservation lab, art storage areas, a bookstore and a café. Opened in September 2004, Phase II features education facilities, a library and archive, a 175-seat theater and a museum store.

The design of the museum was developed over the course of four years, as buildings and properties adjacent to the Palacio were acquired.  As the museum program expanded, the disposition of its elements was reconsidered and adjusted accordingly. The evolutionary nature of this process created the opportunity for Gluckman Mayner Architects to design buildings that both respond to and reflect the character of the surrounding neighborhood, such as in the use of interior patio spaces, a typical Andalusian building typology.  The new structures respect the scale, textures and articulation of the existing built context while signifying an important modern intervention. Rendered in simple geometric forms and finished in white stucco, they contrast with and complement the older adjacent buildings.

The corner tower of the Palacio de Buenavista identifies the museum with a highly visible landmark within the city center.  Its original monumental portal was retained as the museum's main entrance.  The overall design demonstrates considerable respect for the original architecture of the building. Previous modifications to the Palacio interior were removed, re-establishing a traditional arrangement of rooms along the perimeter of the cloistered courtyard. Throughout the historic building, state-of-the-art building systems were incorporated, while key elements such as the artisan wood ceilings were carefully preserved.

The museum complex is defined by a series of outdoor spaces that orient the visitor and assist him/her in navigating the museum.  Within the museum, the cloistered courtyard of the Palacio de Buenavista, bounded by permanent collection galleries, is the focal point.  The café and reading room share a walled garden that is visible from the street from which one enters the museum.  A small public plaza with an ancient fig tree provides for separate entrances to the Education Department, Theater and Bookstore. The remaining ancillary program is housed within a series of buildings that overlook a new public park, across from a historic Roman amphitheater and Moorish fortress. 

The museum's changing exhibition galleries are located in an expansive new structure built adjacent to the Palacio de Buenavista.  Between the Palacio and the new buildings, a double-height space containing a new public stair and elevator serves as a transitional space.  On the upper level, daylight introduced through large skylights is tempered by a fabric scrim.  These large, highly flexible galleries allow the institution to function on an international level as a destination for traveling exhibitions.

Representing both the glory of Malaga's rich historical past and the achievement of the most finely-tuned new museum architecture, Museo Picasso Malaga will put Malaga and the region on the international circuit of museum destinations.  It is an exquisite example of Gluckman Mayner Architects' ability to fulfill complex requirements of setting and logistics, content and program, resulting in efficient solutions of resonant beauty.