SPAIN/PORTUGAL AN ARCHITECTURE GUIDEBOOK
Adjunct Assistant Professor Romina Canna Studio Assistant Professor David Goodman
SPAIN/PORTUGAL 2009 VOLUME 1 A GUIDEBOOK FOR THE 2009 SPAIN/PORTUGAL SUMMER PROGRAM Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture
Adjunct Assistant Professor Romina Canna Studio Assistant Professor David Goodman
SPAIN/PORTUGAL 2009 VOLUME 1 A GUIDEBOOK FOR THE 2009 SPAIN/PORTUGAL SUMMER PROGRAM Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture
Authors: Matthew Abbott Ayesha Akhtar Lulu Al-Awadhi Julie Alkhovsky Daniel Aronberg Aric Austermann Eric Cheng Daniel Ciorba Matt Devendorf Stacy Economy Jacob Ernst Elaine Erwin Nicole Firnbach Eun Kim Joseph Klimek Daniel Medrano Justin Miller Stacy Morton Danny Mui Matt Renfree Archit Sawhney Bryan Slonski Samantha Spencer Tyler Stellwag Mark Swingler Benjamin Tolsky Teodora Vasilev Yu Zhang
Designers, Editors, Co-Authors: Adjunct Assistant Professor Romina Canna Studio Assistant Professor David Goodman
Special thanks to IIT College of Architecture Dean Donna Robertson and Director of International Affairs Timothy Brown for their encouragement and support. Thanks also to the students of the Spain/Portugal Program, whose hard work and enthusiasm made this publication possible.
FOREWORD
This book, the first chapter of a two-part saga, has been a collaboration between the professors and students of the 2009 Spain/Portugal Summer Program. Volume I is our travel-mate; a quick index, a compass for orientation while we’re in the field. While making this book, we took an imaginary trip through the eyes of others. We acted as collectors of images and ideas, filtering the material through our own way of understanding, maintaining the distance of an observer, not a witness. This book is full of fingerprints, an anticipation of the trip to come. It is a guide that will accompany our trip through Spain and Portugal, where we will experience firsthand the totality of the projects contained here. Volume II will be the post-facto document, a log book of our experiences. There will be no more intermediaries. Traveling is nothing but discovering. This is the first step before taking off.
Adjunct Assistant Professor Romina Canna Studio Assistant Professor David Goodman Illinois Institute of Technology
SPAIN/PORTUGAL SUMMER PROGRAM 2009 ILLINOIS INSITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
INTRODUCTION: When the Barcelona Olympic torch was finally ignited on July 25th, 1992, the city inaugurated much more than just the Summer Olympic Games. Barcelona, and the whole of Spain, seemed to crystallize in one moment the years of hard work that had followed the death of the dictator Francisco Franco in 1975. Franco’s death, and the restoration of democracy, opened Spain’s view to the world, initiating a fertile period of cultural and democratic development. Emerging from a long period of hibernation, and with billions in “cohesion funds” from the European Union, Spain developed an unstoppable spatial reorganization on all scales, from analysis of regional and urban structure to a new way of thinking about a distinctly Spanish national architecture. Nowadays, Spain is at the center of the discussion of architecture and urbanism, and all interested parties have the obligation to understand this phenomenon. But Spain was not born in 1992. During different periods, and tied to different dynamics, the country has benefitted from the rich flow of cultures that built the country, and the conflict that often accompanied the transition from one to the other. This country in the Mediterranean Sea has been home to Phoenicians, Romans, Visigoths, Muslims, Jews, and Catholics; the Spanish are a mix of all of these cultures, and this hybrid cultural legacy has left indelible marks on their cities. Cities in Spain are the accumulation of layers of this varied history. We will trace this history from different points of view, trying to understand its distinct episodes and also its broader cultural and historical background. In order to do this, we will traverse centuries of architecture and urbanism revealing not only material structures, but also the thoughts behind the interventions. Spain has now entered a new period of cultural foment; globalization and the unification of Europe have, perhaps, begun to dilute the "Spanishness" of the country's architecture, as it uses a newfound prosperity to attract architects from around the world: Zaha Hadid, MVRDV, Herzog & deMeuron, Norman Foster, and Wiel Arets, among others. We will see these projects as well, examining the latest layer to be added to the cultural mix that is Spain.
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MADRID City Population: Metropolitan Area:
3,010,500 5,840,000
When King Philip II transferred the Royal Court from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the dusty village at the center of the Iberian Peninsula suddenly became the seat of empire. Some have argued that it has always remained a village at heart -- its spirit has long had more to do with the towns and villages of land-locked central Spain than with the cosmopolitan spirit of other European capitals. Since the restoration of democracy in Spain in 1978, however, Madrid has been, quite literally, at the center of a rebirth of a dynamic country, and the grimy, somewhat provincial capital is now a confident and self-consciously progressive city. With massive investment in public infrastructure and singular works of architecture, Madrid has reinvented itself, once again, as the seat of empire. Today, Spanish companies, headquartered in Madrid, are world leaders in renewable energy, communications, banking, and public infrastructure, once again colonizing the Americas, and parts of continental Europe. Their power, and that of the post-Franco economic boom in general, is visible throughout.
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As the new money reshapes Madrid, the city loses some of the awkward charm it once exuded: no longer an overgrown village, Madrid is now a teeming, slightly out-of-control European capital. struggling with traffic, immigration, and air pollution. Starbucks and Euro-chic bars have replaced the romantically neglected cafes and neighborhood dive bars. If you lose yourselves in the neighborhoods, though, the old Madrid remains.
PROJECT LIST Rafael Moneo Herzog & de Meuron Jean Nouvel Ábalos y Herreros Javier Saénz de Oiza Javier Saénz de Oiza Secundino Zuazo Ugalde MVRDV Rafael de la Hoz Norman Foster, Harry Cobb Rafael Moneo Juan Bautista de Toledo, Juan de Herrera Juan de Villanueva Fernando Márquez Cecilia, Richard Levene Torres Tur and Martínez Lapeña
Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra Rafael Moneo Mansilla y Tuñon Ábalos y Herreros Wiel Arets Alberto Nicolau Luis Alfonso d'Escragnolle Filho
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Museo del Prado Addition Caixa Forum Reina Sofía Museum and Additon Retiro Gymnastics Pavilion Torres Blancas BBVA Tower Nuevos Ministerios Mirador Housing Telefónica Headquarters Towers on La Castellana Atocha Station Palace and Monastery of El Escorial Casita del Principe El Croquis Headquarters Toledo Entrance Escalators Toledo Cathedral Monestary San Juan de los Reyes Archivo de Castilla la Mancha Toledo Convention Center Madrid Regional Library Usera Library Pradolongo Housing Valdemoro Swimming Pool Casa do Brasil
LA C ASTE LLAN A PASE O DE
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Museo del Prado: Ampliaci贸n Rafael Moneo original building: addition:
1785-1819 2001-2007
The Museo Del Prado was originally designed by the architect Juan de Villanueva on the orders of Charles III in 1785. Its function as a museum was not decided upon, however, until 1819 when it was opened to the public for the first time. Since then it has served as a museum of art displaying Spain's greatest collection of paintings, sculptures, prints and drawings.
Ruiz de Alarc贸n 23
MAD
Metro: Banco de Espa帽a - L2
On November 29, 2001 work began on an expansion to the museum that would enlarge it by over 50%. The architect for the addition was Rafael Moneo, who designed a prismatic volume on the site of an existing cloister, and a low-slung band connecting the old and the new. The project was completed on the 13th of March, 2007 at a final cost of 152 million Euros. The project added 22,513 square meters to the museum and 13,363 meters of improvement to the surrounding streets. The new addition to the museum can only be seen if one enters the museum from the back or side: from Paseo del Prado, the appearance is unchanged.
This museum is a is a modification of a 1899 power station of historically significant industrial architecture.
Caixa Forum Madrid
The base of the building has been removed, creating an indoor/outdoor place at the base level. This gives this building a floating appearance in defiance of gravity, directing visitors inside. The existing building is treated with care, but not with reverence, as new openings are made, and a vertical extension seems to extrude the original volume skyward.
2008
Herzog & De Meuron Paseo del Prado 36 Metro: Banco de Espa単a - L2
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This project is a tale of two stairs: the first, a mysterious metallic appendage that connects the suspended building to the building above. The second is a white concrete spiral that spans the three main volumes of the project: new, existing,
Museo Reina Sofía Addition Jean Nouvel Ateliers 2005
The Reina Sofía Museum was designed during the 18th century by King Charles III's court architect Francesco Sabatini. Originally, the building was a hospital, and had been altered numerous times. In 1977, the building was declared historically significant and turned into a museum.
Calle de Santa Isabel 52 Metro: Atocha - L1
A competition was held for an addition to the museum. The purpose was to create a sector to accommodate a variety of supplemental functions, thus freeing up the original museum for the permanent collection. Jean Nouvel won first prize for the competition. In his design, he created three pavilions: a library (24,000 sf), a bookshop (600sf), and a temporary exhibit space (78,900 sf). The temporary exhibit space houses the restaurant, café and two large auditoriums. A central courtyard connects the three pavilions. Nouvel added a canopy over the entire addition that shades the area against the harsh summer sun. Nouvel wanted the roof to be an occupiable space that also serves as an observatory deck. Unfortunately, plans were changed during the building process, making the roof unoccupiable. The painted, reflective surfaces play a vital role in Jean Nouvel's design. He cut voids out of the canopy to allow controlled daylight to enter the building. Nouvel uses the voids, along with the bright surfaces, to manipulate the light that enters the building.
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The museum addition contrasts starkly with the original museum and the surrounding neighborhood. Nouvel's building is characterized by bright red, reflective surfaces. Tucked underneath the addition is the original building, made of load-bearing masonry walls.
For this sports pavilion in the middle of Madrid’s most emblematic park, Ábalos y Herreros proposed a platform three meters tall surrounded by trees and translucent walls. The trees were essential for shade and to shield the building from view.
Pabellón de Gimnasia
The building contains offices, changing rooms, storage areas, and an illuminated doubleheight gymnasium, clad with a mesh design on the façade.
Parque del Retiro
Ábalos y Herreros 1999 - 2003 Metro: Retiro - L2
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Observations: The flexible display allowed the architects to use the roof as a tennis court.
Torres Blancas Javier Sáenz de Oiza 1969 Avenida de América 37
Torres Blancas, completed in 1969, is a multipurpose tower that rises 81 meters. The building consists of 160 apartment units of varying shapes and sizes generated from the Wrightian pinwheel plan. Built of concrete, the organic tower seems to have been extruded from the ground. Large balconies offset the round narrow shapes adding variety to the façade and helping to keep the building cool.
Metro: Ventas - L2 and L5
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Observations: Private apartment building
The landscaping, some of which overflows from the balconies, and the wood cladding of the roof compliment the concrete and add to the natural feel. The roof is also home to all public spaces, pool, and a restaurant.
The BBVA Tower, previously known as Banco de Bilbao, is one of the most significant skyscrapers in Madrid. The building is 125m tall and has 30 levels: the top five are dedicated to the company Board of Directors, the basement houses an auditorium, and the remainder serves as office space.
Torre BBVA Javier Sรกenz de Oiza 1979 - 1981 Paseo de la Castellana 81
Sรกenz de Oiza developed a core structure and an open plan in his design, creating flexibility within the interior as well as allowing natural light to cross from side to side. The facade is made out of steel and glass panels with sunshades integrated. It is believed that the design of BBVA Tower was influenced by the skyline and skyscrapers in Chicago which Sรกenz de Oiza studied in depth during his trip to the United States.
Metro: Nuevos Ministerios - L10 and L8
This enormous government ministry building was proposed and designed in 1932 by Secundino Zuazo Ugalde, but the construction was not fully directed by Zuazo, as he was exiled following the Civil War. In 1930, the city of Madrid expanded its borders on the north/south axis of Paseo de la Castellana. The Minister of Construction, Indalecio Prieto, hired Zuazo in order to design a building that would house all of Spain's ministers and serve as a monument for the Republic of Spain.
Nuevos Ministerios Secundino Zuazo Ugalde 1932-53 Metro: Nuevos Ministerios - L10 and L8 Observations: Interiors Closed to Public
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The design references El Escorial as a basis for design with a mix of modern architecture from before and after the war. The construction began in 1933 and, due to the war, wasn't finished until 1942 and didn't become fully functional until 1953.
Edificio Mirador MVRDV 2004 Calle Princesa de Éboli 21
The 22-story building located in Sanchinarro, a suburb northeast of Madrid, acts as a "vertical neighborhood", built with a mixture of social groups and lifestyles in mind. There is a void inside the building's rectangular shape, which frames the distant landscape of the Guadarrama Mountains and also serves as a public space.
Tren Ligero: Virgen del Cortijo - L1 Observations: Private Apartment Building
Torres en La Castellana Henry Cobb, Norman Foster, César Pelli, Carlos Rubio Carvajal y Enrique Álvarez-Sala Walter 2008 Metro: Begoña - L10
MAD
Observations: These towers are the tallest in Spain. Madrid's Barajas Airport modified its emergency flight paths to avoid the buildings.
The elevated public space is surrounded by different housing types, which create blocks containing a total of 156 units. The blocks are articulated by colors and material of the façade. The bright red strips between the blocks of the building indicate the location of the corridors.
The 250m-tall Torre Caja Madrid was the first and tallest of the towers followed by Torre Espacio (236m), Torre de Cristal (249.5m), and Torre Sacyr Vallehermoso (236m). The buildings have service and vertical circulation cores that occupy minimal space and frame the open office floors. These cores are strategically positioned to block the west/east direct sunlight, a move that has the added benefit of framing the spectacular views of the hills of Sierra de Guadarrama to the north and the center of Madrid to the south. At ground level, a 22-meter glazed atrium provides the transition from the street, and accommodates a 'floating' glass-walled auditorium set into a mezzanine. At the top of the tower, there is a void space beneath the uppermost section of the 'portal' frame is designed to house wind turbines as a possible future addition.
Telefรณnica uses its new headquarters on the outskirts of Madrid to create an image of high technology, efficiency, and power. The glass used for the fins is unique to this building and it helps shade the building. This building also contains such amenities as restaurants and a gymnasium.
Distrito de la Comunicaciรณn de Telefรณnica Rafael de la Hoz 2004 - 2008 Ronda de la Comunicaciรณn s/n Metro: Ronda de la Comunicaciรณn - L10
The Pradolongo Housing was designed by firm Wiel Arets Architects, led by Wiel Arets and Bettina Kraus. It was built in a neighborhood south of central Madrid and north of the M40 perimeter highway ring.
Viviendas en Pradolongo
There are 144 apartments in all. The apartments to the east and the west are placed so that they seem like extensions of the adjacent Pradolongo Park with horizontal strips that run along the building to help create this illusion. The space between each building was designed in the format of private squares or courtyards in order establish an atmosphere that combines both the park adjacent to it and the urban city life of Madrid.
Calle del Doctor Tolosa Latour and Avenida de los Poblados
Wiel Arets 2002 - 2008
MAD
Metro: Hospital 12 de Octubre - L3
Casita del Príncipe Juan de Villanueva 1771-75 Cercanías: San Lorenzo de El Escorial - C-8A
Editorial El Croquis Fernando Márquez Cecilia and Richard Levene 1998 Av. Reyes Católicos 9 Cercanías: San Lorenzo de El Escorial - C-8A
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observations: The building houses both the magazine offices and an architecture gallery.
The Casita del Príncipe is located between two gardens in the Jardines del Príncipe at El Escorial. The building is a small neoclassical palace that was home to the Prince of Asturias, later Carlos IV. It is known for its architectural exterior but also the conservation of its interior, which is open to the public. Its décor dates back to the 18th century and includes tapestries, lamps, clocks, furniture, and paintings with mythological themes. It is comprised of two floors and an additional wing that was added ten years after the completion date.
El Croquis is one of the most respected and successful architectural magazines available. Their headquarters was completed in 1998, with a building situated in a suburban environment in El Escorial near Madrid. The architects are Fernando Márquez Cecilia and Richard C. Levene, who are the main publishers and editors of the El Croquis magazine. This building is very much inspired by the surrounding landscape: a rocky site with a steep grade. The elevations, with their irregular horizontal striations, resemble different layered structures. The complex is composed of two buildings laid out in an L shape in plan, with a connection on the ground floor. The opaque faces of these prisms are coated inn Roman travertine marble and iroko wood, with flooring throughout of iroko wood.
El Escorial was commissioned by Felipe II as a royal palace, a monastery, and a necropolis for the Spanish kings, in particular as the final resting place of Carlos V. The plan was designed by Juan Bautista de Toledo, a Spaniard who had been working in Rome as Michelangelo's assistant on St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City. He had been appointed as the royal architect of Spain by Felipe II in 1559. Upon his appointment, Juan Bautista de Toledo immediately returned to Spain. His wife and children were to come via boat a few months later, but sadly their boat sunk and they died. Juan Bautista de Toledo was never able to recover from the loss of his family and it greatly affected his ability to work.
Palacio y Monasterio de El Escorial Juan Bautista de Toledo Juan de Herrera 1563 - 1584 Calle Juan de Borb贸n and Battemberg s/n. San Lorenzo de El Escorial Cercan铆as: San Lorenzo de El Escorial - C-8A
Construction on El Escorial began in 1563, Juan Bautista de Toledo died in 1567 and Juan de Herrera took over. Juan de Herrera had been appointed as assistant to Juan Bautista de Toledo in 1563 due to Toledo's inability to meet deadlines, appear at appointments, and get work done. El Escorial was finally completed in 1584, and was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World, symbolizing the power, and profligacy, of the Spanish Empire.
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Today El Escorial is one of Spain's top tourist attractions. The basilica is located in the center of the monastery. The mausoleum contains the crypt of the kings where all of the Spanish kings are buried along with Isabella II.
Biblioteca Regional Mansilla and Tuñón 2003 Calle Ramírez de Prado 3
MAD
Metro: Delicias - L3 or Méndez Álvaro - L6
Architects Mansilla and Tuñón converted the Aguila Brewery into the Madrid Regional Library in 2003. The original building was completed in 1914. The 30,000 square meter space contains just under 100 kilometers of shelving space. The varied program contains multimedia libraries, traditional book storage, and governmental document storage. These spaces occupy the old industrial areas of the former brewery. Even the old silos are used, now containing book storage. The distinctive façade is a creation out of necessity due to the strict fire codes in Madrid. The blending of the old and new creates an interesting juxtaposition that responds to the city's past vernacular as well as its modern advancements. The interior spaces feature rich materials and open spaces for document review.
Moneo’s expansion and reconfiguration on Madrid’s Atocha Station, central hub of Spain’s ambitious rail system, combines an existing 19th-century train shed with the new requirements of modern day rail transport. The existing train canopy is dedicated to passenger circulation and a tropical wintergarden, with separate while commuter and inter-urban rail facilities are attached to the rear.
Estación de Atocha Rafael Moneo, expansion Alberto del Palacio, original building Expansion: 1985-1988, 2000-2002, current Plaza del Imperador Carlos V, s/n
Moneo assembles these disparate elements into a potent urban composition: a sunken plaza adjacent to the existing building provides a grand entryway, shielded from the traffic of the neighboring streets. Within the station, Moneo experiments with the typology of the trainshed: instead of repeating the clear-span of the original building, he proposes instead a hypostyle hall with a canopy of spread column capitals forming the train shed’s roof - a subtle reworking of Wright’s Johnson Wax building. As in Wright’s earlier building, glazing separates each of these capitals, admitting light into the monumental space below.
Metro: Atocha Renfe or Atocha - L1
With the station’s parking garage, Moneo continues his investigation of the way in which large roof structures can be resolved through repetitive smaller elements. Here, a series of parabolic domes with oculi covers the parking deck, providing shade from the intense summer sun, and endowing the otherwise prosaic space, with a vaguely postmodern monumentality.
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The entire complex, which continues to expand, attempts to infuse the infrastructure of everyday life with a nobility and grandeur that recalls earlier modes of monument-making, far from the steel-and-glass technophelia that tends to be the default language for spaces of transport.
Catedral de Santa María de Toledo Master Martín Petrus Petri Rodrigo Alfonso Alvar Martínez Hanequin de Bruselas 1226 - 1493
The re-conquered territory which the Church of St. Mary of Toledo now occupies once held a Visigoth temple, then a mosque, and was converted to a Christian house of worship. The old church was demolished in 1227 under Alfonso VI's rule, and the foundation for the current Cathedral were laid. Following St. Ferdinand's foundation, master builders Petrus Petri, Rodrigo Alfonso, Álvaro Martínez, and Hanequin de Bruselas each had a hand in directing the work from the mid 13th-century to the late 15th-century. These master builders oversaw the construction of the cathedral’s gothic elements, from the triforia to the cloisters, to the extra widened arches.
Arco de Palacio 2 From the late 15th-century to the mid 17th-century, Renaissance artists, masons, and carpenters worked on details from the larchwood Capilla Mayor to the chiseled marble chapel of El Transparente, to the story of the conquest of Granada sculpted into the walnut stalls of the Coro (choir).
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The Cathedral removes the triforum found in typical Gothic architecture resulting in a twostaged interior elevation composed of an arcade and a clerestory that creates a squat building, much wider and shorter than normal.
Before Isabella and Ferdinand defeated Portugal at the battle of Toro in 1476, they promised they would build a church honoring St. John if they won the battle. They went to Toledo in 1477 at which point they commissioned the San Juan de los Reyes church. When they returned in 1479 they were disappointed with what had been built and commissioned a larger project. Originally they had intended it to be their final resting place, but these plans changed after the conquest of Granada in 1492.
Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes Juan Guas 1477-1504 Calle San Juan de los Reyes 2
Juan Guas, a French architect who was trained in Brussels and moved to Spain, met with Isabella in 1472 and was made the royal architect. After the victory at Toro he was placed in charge of designing San Juan de los Reyes. Although he died in 1496, before the building was completed, the Convent of San Juan de los Reyes is considered his finest work.
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In 1809 Napoleon's army set fire to the church causing massive damage to it. It wasn't until 1883 that the architect Arturo MĂŠlida was placed in charge of a restoration that would finally be completed in 1967.
Palacio de Congresos de Toledo Rafael Moneo full inauguration expected in mid 2010 Paseo del Miradero, s/n
El Miradero, or Viewpoint, was given its name due its position on an ancient wall that provides an unobstructed view of the valley of the Tagus river and the surrounding suburbs. With origins in the sixteenth century, El Miradero has aged with the city of Toledo. It has seen many renovations throughout its lifespan, the most recent of which designed by Rafael Moneo.
TOL
The building, most of which is below grade, houses parking and several auditoriums for conventions and conferences. The project is expected for full opening in mid 2010.
Elías Torres Tur and José Antonio Martínez Lapeña designed this underground car park and covered escalator link to connect new city of Toledo with the historic core above. The project is set into the hillside, takes advantage of the spectacular views of the city. The parking is excavated 30 meters into the hillside.
Escaleras de la Granja Torres Tur and Martínez Lapeña 2001 Paseo de Recaredo
The six flights of escalators are set at slightly different angles and are sheltered by a series of cantilevered concrete slabs. The high technology and tremendous efforts are concealed here, creating and architecture that blends into its environmental surroundings.
Archivo de Castilla-La Mancha Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra 1997 - 2005 C/ Río de Valdemarías, s/n Polígono de Santa María de Benquerencia. Bus: 6.1, 9.1, 9.2
TOL
Consuegra’s archives for the Castilla-La Mancha autonomous region uses a ceramic facade to create a hermetic, mute volume: a container for the records and documents within. The rust-colored facade rhymes with the arid, rocky landscape, and is here converted into a massive yet semitransparent block.
Biblioteca Pública "José Hierro” Ábalos and Herreros 2003
A tower sitting high upon the ground, the Biblioteca Pública José Hierro acts like a skyscraper for the housing of books. Ábalos and Herreros deliberately re-describe the form type of a skyscraper as an expansion of contemporary space and the contemporary typology the skyscraper creates.
Avda. Rafaela Ybarra 43 Metro: Plaza Elíptica - L6 and L11 Bus 6, 47, 60 and 81
Piscina Valdesanchuela Alberto Nicolau 2007
The first thing one comes across upon entering the building is a dramatic triple-height entrance space, followed by the discovery that the ground floor plan is extensive and is not confined to the footprint of the tower above. The great heights and the atmosphere in semidarkness help to control light. The "cracks" in the façade fragment the relation with a dull environment into small, particular views which recompose the outside world and create surprising glimpses of the context. Ábalos and Herreros took the urban, culturally diverse site and make architecture of high impact that empowered the entire community.
One of Alberto Nicolau's first solo projects, the public pool at Valdemoro uses its program as a generator for formal investigation -- namely the development of a long-span structure for the pool enclosure. Nicolau paid special attention on a truss system that would not only be strong, but would also produce a series of wave-like contours.
Calle Valdesanchuela s/n, Valdemoro
MAD
Cercanías: Valdemoro - C-3
Situated on an 8000 square meter site, the building uses glass extensively around its base, allowing the natural areas around the building to appear to flow inside. The site extends out to a flat area of manicured lawn, on the same plane as the top of the water, further unifying the indoor and outdoor space. From the road above, the building appears to form yet another facade, as light from within pierces the undulating roofline, whose curves seem to be in constant movement. These curves echo the ripples of water, unifying the building’s image with its program.
The Casa do Brasil is a Brazilian cultural school and dormitory. Luis Alfonso d'Escragnolle Filho was the official architect for Brazil and designed the building based on the location of the school. The topography of the land lent its configuration to the placement of the different blocks and individual shapes of the building. The harmony of these separate blocks, along with the use of stilts and other structural systems, are meant to give the building a sense of mobility.
Casa do Brasil Luis Alfonso d'Escragnolle Filho 1962 Avenida Arco De La Victoria s/n Metro: Moncloa - L6 and L3
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One can note a clear affinity with the Brazilian interpretations of Le Corbusier (especially the Swiss Pavilion) common in Brazil at mid-century.
CORDOBA City Population: Metropolitan Area:
325,400 351,000
Córdoba served as capital of the Roman Provincia Baetica, a region of Spain that corresponds roughly to present day Andalucía, and was later the capital of a united Muslim Spain (al-Andalus), from 750 until 1031, when the peninsula was divided into independent regions, or Taifas. During that period of relative political calm, Córdoba, center of the Córdoba Caliphate, grew to be the world´s largest city with nearly 500,000 inhabitants. The city was a world center of culture and study, and for long periods of time, Muslims, Christians and Jews co-existed peacefully here. In 1236, the city returned to Christian control, and the city was gradually eclipsed by Seville, which benefitted from its trade with the Americas, Toledo and Madrid, which hosted the Royal Court, and other cities like Barcelona and Zaragoza, that played important roles in trade with Europe. Today, Córdoba is a small city at the periphery of Europe, where traces of its former glory can be seen in temples, ruins, and in the dense streets and patios of its historic core.
COR
PROJECT LIST Córdoba Central Station Great Mosque/Cathedral of Córdoba Madinat-al Zahra Museum
Peña, Castro, y Puig Sobejano y Nieto
ES AR J E ST O L DE A ND RO
DO NAN FER AN LE S CAL
AVENIDA DE LA REPUBL ICA ARGENTINA
CALLE CLAUDIO MARCELO
TE EN PU
S IJO RR TO DE LLE CA
O AN M RO
Estacion de Córdoba Peña, Castro y Puig 1994
Located in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas, across from the bus terminal, this is a train station built especially to handle the arrival of high-speed rail in this historic city. Steel, glass and concrete are combined to create a comfortable, light-filled station that is fully accessible to people with reduced mobility.
Glorieta de las Tres Culturas s/n Bus: 3,10 and 11
Madinat Al-Zahra Sobejano y Nieto 936-976; 2008
COR
Crta. de Palma del Río km. 5,5
The fortified palace and city of Madinat-al-Zahra is a 1.52 kilometer long by 745 meter wide rectangle, divided into three terraces. At the highest point stood Caliph Abd al-Rahman Ill's palace, called Dar al-Mulk or Casa Real. The rest of the highest terrace was filled with government and administration buildings, from which all of Muslim Iberia was governed. Destroyed in the 11th century, only a fraction of the complex has been excavated to date. Sobejano and Nieto’s sunken visitors’ center opened in 2008.
Built on the remains of former Roman and Visigoth temples, the Great Mosque of C贸rdoba is a mix of structural innovation, cultural conflict, propaganda, and sheer monumentality. It is also a mysterious and beautiful place, still drawing visitors to this sleepy Andalusian town to visit a true wonder of the world.
Great Mosque/Cathedral of C贸rdoba 785-987; 16th-century chapel addition Cardenal Herrero, 1
Begun in 785 by Caliph Abd al Rahman I, the first phase of the mosque appropriated columns salvaged from the Visigoth and Roman temples, using them as bases for the polychrome double arches that sprung from each pair. The game of one-upsmanship could not be clearer: the new order was built directly on top of the old. Further hypostyle additions were made to the mosque over the following centuries, including the lavishly adorned Mihrab, or prayer niche, constructed under the rule of al Hakam II. Each of these additions followed the structural example and module of the first. The dark, mysterious interior, with its repetitive structural module, forms a haunting counterpoint to the grid of trees in the Patio de las Naranjas courtyard.
COR
When the Christian Reconquista reached C贸rdoba in 1236, the Mosque was converted into the city麓s cathedral. While in many other cities, mosques were entirely destroyed to illustrate the the Catholic triumph over Islam, here, the mosque was spared, though a neogothic Catholic chapel was, in the 16th century, inserted into the fabric of the non-hierarchical mosque, profoundly altering the space.
GRANADA City Population: Metropolitan Area:
237,000 473,000
Sitting at the base of the snow-capped Sierra Nevada mountains, Granada draws tourists from around the world to the Alhambra. Most of these tourists never bother to explore the enchanting city that surrounds it. When the day ends, and the tourist buses depart for the beaches of Málaga, the real Granada appears in the narrow streets of the Albaicín quarter, where traces of the city´s Muslim past remain, and where an active student population fills this small city with a distinctly bohemian air, quite unlike other Andalusian cities.
GRA
PROJECT LIST Alhambra Palace Generalife Gardens
IA NV GRA
ALBAICIN
S YE RE
RO DAR DEL RA ACE
S IDA G CO RE E LL CA
S CO I L TO CA
ALHAMBRA AND GENERALIFE
Palacio de la Alhambra 14th-century Bus: 30 or 32 from Plaza Nueva Observations: UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Alhambra is located atop the Alhambra Hill, a foothill of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The Alhambra is a large Moorish Citadel which contains a royal palace. Much of the Alhambra dates to the reigns of Yusuf I (1333-54) and Muhammad V (1354-59, 136291) of the Nasrid dynasty. The citadel walls are made of stone and brick covered in plaster, and contain 22 towers. There are four main gates leading into the citadel. The most important gate is the Gate of Law dating to 1348. It contains 3 different kinds of vaults and the inscription "There is no God but God, Muhammad is His Prophet, There is no force or power except in God.� It was through this gate that Isabella and Ferdinand first entered the Alhambra upon the conquest of Granada. The second gate, the Gate of Seven Heavens, was partially destroyed by Napoleon's army. The third gate is the Arrabal Gate, which is the main connection between the Alhambra and the Generalife gardens. The final gate is the Gate of Arms, which connects the citadel to the town of Granada. The Alcazaba was a fortified city, or casbah, that makes up the western most portion of the Alhambra. It predates the Nasrid dynasty making its ruins the oldest remaining part of the Alhambra. Inside the Royal Palace, the Court of the Myrtles is a long courtyard with a pool running through it. The Hall of Ambassadors rises over the North façade of the Court of Myrtles. Its rich decorations, dating from the reign of Muhammad V, occupy the largest and highest tower of the Alhambra. The Bath, which connects the Court of Myrtles with the Court of Lions, dates to the reign of Yusuf I. The relatively small Court of Lions dates from the reign of Muhammad V and is the most famous part of the Alhambra. Both the Hall of the Two Sisters and the Hall of Abencerrajes have domes featuring ceilings with muqarnas, an Islamic design that looks similar to stalactites.
GRA
The Tower of Infantas, which appears on the fortification walls of the citadel, dates to the reign of Sa'ad (1445-61) and is the last Moorish addition to the Alhambra. The Palace of Charles V, located just off of the Court of Myrtles, was added from 1527-68 after the reconquista. Charles V requested that the palace be built as the residence of the emperor. It was designed by Pedro Machuca, who learned architecture in Italy from Michelangelo. Upon his death in 1550, his son Luis Machuca took over design of the palace.
GRA
Generalife Gardens present day gardens:: Francisco Prieto Moreno
The origins of the term Generalife are disputed, but is mainly recognized as meaning "the architect's garden." It was originally built under Muhammad III and used as a place of rest for Muslim royalty.
1302-1309 (present day gardens built: 1931-1951) After the Muslims were conquered in 1492 by the Catholics, the Catholic Monarchs assigned a keeper to watch over the gardens. In 1631 the task of keeper was assigned to the Granada-Venegas family, who held this task until the state took it over in 1921.
GRA
The site of the Generalife was divided into terraces with 4 main vegetable gardens separated by thick walls. The Generalife consists of the Palace of the Generalife, the Romantic Observation Point, the Water-Garden Courtyard, the Sultana's Court, and various fountains, colonnades, and pavilions. The entrance to the Generalife is notable as the exterior part is rural, uncommon for a palace; one must pass through various courts in order to reach the palace.
SEVILLA City Population: Metropolitan Area:
699,800 1,450,200
Capital of the Autonomous Community of Andalucía and Spain’s fourth-largest city, Sevilla carries itself with an air of importance. It was, after all, from here that Spain’s conquistadores departed, Christopher Columbus among them. And it was here that they deposited their wealth. Though this wealth was gradually squandered, and Seville went into centuries of decline, the city maintained its elegance, with stately homes for the land-owning aristocracy and broad avenues lined with orange trees. As post-Franco Spain took shape under Seville-born president Felipe González, the city found itself the beneficiary of investment from the central government and the European Union. These investments transformed the city.
SEV
In preparation for Expo ‘92, a celebration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus´s voyage, the city was reconceived and connected to Madrid with the first segment of the high-speed AVE train. Though the Expo grounds were slow to be incorporated into the city, and Seville seemed once again to stagnate, the city has recently inaugurated a new metro and tram system, and has begun to pedestrianize important parts of its historic core. The transformation of a capital city continues, and Seville, home of the mythical Carmen, continues to beguile those who visit.
PROJECT LIST Santa Justa Station Royal Alcázar Plaza de España Alamillo Bridge Estadio Olímpico Infanta Elena Library Doña Maria Colonel 26 Housing Diputación de Sevilla Previsión Española
Cruz y Ortiz
Santiago Calatrava Cruz y Ortiz Cruz y Ortiz Cruz y Ortiz Cruz y Ortiz Rafael Moneo
RPES CALLE SIE
CION CONSTITU AV. DE LA
MEN END EZ P ELA Y0 CALLE AGUILAS
Catedral de Sevilla (Santa MarĂa de la Sede) 1402-1506 Plaza del Triunfo Tram: Archivo de Indias - T1 Observations: Named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. Dress Code: shorts and t-shirts not permitted
Santa Justa Station Cruz y OrtĂz 1987-1991 Avda. de Kansas City s/n
SEV
Bus: C1-C2
The Cathedral of Sevilla is built on the large rectangular base-plan of the mosque that previously occupied the site. It is the third largest church in Europe (after St. Paul's in London and St. Peter's in Rome) and the largest Gothic building in Europe. The nave of the cathedral is the longest in Spain. The interior is lavishly decorated with gold, though it maintains an overall simplicity and restraint in decoration. The 45 carved scenes from the life of Christ were the life's work of a single craftsman, Pieter Dancart. It is carved in wood and covered with gold, making it the largest and richest altarpiece in the world. Christopher Columbus’s tomb is here.
This train station was designed and built in a largely undeveloped area with the goal not only of providing train services, but also to turn the surrounding community into a busy urban area. The station was designed as a three story building that stretched along the site in order to provide the streets with a uniform line of reference. The building itself is divided into six distinct naves, each articulated through varied lighting, and separate roof structures, thus enforcing the sense of sequential spaces as passengers move through the building.
This complex of palace buildings in Seville was begun during the Almohad dynasty and was initially a Moorish fort. It has been home to many monarchs since. To this date this place is used by Spain's Royal family as their official Seville residence.
Alcázar Real de Sevilla
This palace contains beautiful gardens, corridors and courtyards that reflect the rich culture and style of the Moors (Muslims of Al-Andalus) and the Catholic Monarchs who followed them.
Tram: Archivo de Indias - T1
The Plaza de España was built for Spain's Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. The construction of the exposition took 15 years to complete. The building was of brick, stone, and ceramic tiling. Centered around the fountain an array of ceramic tiled bridges lead pedestrians over a canal to what is now a series of government buildings. Along the outer face of the buildings is a string of benches. Each bench is dedicated to a province of Spain. They are decorated with painted ceramic tiles that tell the stories of the Spanish provinces. The Plaza de España is a clear representation of both the architectural progression and historical progression of Seville's culture and Spanish history.
Plaza de España
begun 913 13600, Alcázar de San Juan
Aníbal González 1929
SEV
Tram: Prado de San Sebastián - L1
Alamillo Bridge Santiago Calatrava 1989-1992 Ronda de Circunvalación SE-30 Bus: 6, E5, C5
Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla Cruz y Ortiz 1999
Originally proposed to be twin bridges with a connecting viaduct for the 1992 World’s Fair, the Alamillo was ultimately built as a single structure. The Alamillo Bridge is both a roadway and a pedestrian walkway. The walkway is lifted up 1.8 meters above the road, creating an efficient and comfortable way of travel. The deck of the bridge is constructed as a steel box beam, supported by steel girders every four meters along the bridge's length. Calatrava, both architect and engineer, developed an innovative way of stabilizing the structure, allowing the pylon to counterbalance the deck, thereby substituting one of the stay cables with an angled pylon.
Estadio de la Cartuja, commonly known as Estadio Olímpico de Sevilla, was completed in 1999, in time for the World Championships in Athletics. It can seat 57,619 spectators and has hosted various sporting events and concerts, although it has never actually been the site of any Olympic games.
41970 Santiponce (Isla de la Cartuja)
SEV
Bus: C2 or C1
At the southern end of the stadium, the upper deck is replaced by a glass facade providing a view of the city. The awning is pierced by a large oval creating a shadow that affects all sporting events with different intensities. These two elements couple to make the sporting a spectacle without losing sight of its urban location.
The new headquarters of the state library is located on the previous grounds of the IberoAmerican Exposition and was commissioned by the Directorate General for Books, Archives and Libraries of the Ministry of Culture. The building occupies the center of the site because it is unique and therefore isolated from the surrounding buildings.
Infanta Elena Library Cruz y Ortiz 1995-1999 Avenida de Maria Luisa, 8 Bus: 6, 34, 41, C1, C2 Tram: Prado de San Sebastiรกn - T1 Metro: Prado de San Sebastiรกn - L1 Observations: Backpacks/purses must be left at entrance counter.
SEV
The library focuses on its own interior composition with a setback from the street and subsequent covering of trees. The building collapses in upon itself creating a southern patio that allows for views that cross to create a unity among the four wings that define the library. The facades reflect the internal development and are modulated with large holes allowing natural light and views. The building is divided into 3 areas consisting of the main central connection, the adult "L" section, and the southern children's section.
Doña María Coronel 26 Housing Cruz y Ortiz 1974-1976 Calle Doña María Coronel 26 Bus: 10, 11, 12, 15, 20 , 24, 27
SEV
Observations: Closed to public.
The building contains twelve apartments of about 100 square meters each. The prevailing regulations stipulated that 25% of the site must be left free of construction, in order to reduce population density in the old city center at that time. The project concentrated on the unconstructed space as a courtyard. To solve the geometrical problems the site posed, the resultant courtyard was shaped like a kidney. It provides a focal point that diverted attention from the many different buildings behind. The courtyard is also a key element to the organization of the entire building, marking off the areas to be occupied by housing as well as positioning the stairways.
The project was designed by Cruz y Ortiz to integrate and compliment the old 17th century barracks on the site with the new building on the adjacent site. Completed in 1995, the building combines stone, timber and glass (of similar color) and follows a neoclassical pattern. The ground plan was conceived by a shift achieved by the courtyard enclosure wall and the old barracks. The structural system appears to be made up of stone coated panels but the real structural mechanisms are hidden behind it.
Diputación Provincial de Sevilla
Built for La Previsión Española Insurance Company, this building blends into the architecture of Seville through its materiality and its ambiguous scale.
Previsión Española
The project uses the remains of the wall that joined the Torre del Oro to the walls of Sevilla. It enriches the ruins of the walls by being able to enter from two passages on Calle Almirante Lobo and on Paseo de Colón.
1982-1987
Cruz y Ortiz 1991-1995 Avda. Menéndez y Pelayo 32 Bus: C4, C3, 121 Metro: Prado de San Sebastián - L1
Rafael Moneo Paseo de Colón 26
SEV
Bus: C4, B2 Metro: Puerta de Jerez - L1
MERIDA City Population:
55,600
The small city of Mérida, capital of the Extremadura region, was founded in 25BC by the Roman Emperor Augustus. He named the city Emerita Augusta, after the discharged (emeritus) soldiers of his army, who set up a strategic outpost to monitor the Guadiana River.
MER
This outpost would become the capital of the Roman Province of Lusitania, encompassing much of present-day Portugal, and one of the most important cities of the Roman Empire. The monuments of this great city remain -- 20 Roman ruins dot the city, and the group was designated a UNESCO site. The new city of Mérida, meanwhile, has redefined itself as a regional capital, complete with the prerequisite Palacio de Congresos and Santiago Calatrava bridge, taking steps to attract tourism and investment.
PROJECT LIST National Museum of Roman Art Roman Amphiteatre and Aqueduct Palacio de Congresos de Mérida Lusitania Bridge
Rafael Moneo Sobejano y Nieto Santiago Calatrava
LE CAL
O SE PA A M RO DE
IDGE R B ANIA T I S LU
O LEJ A R END M L A
IA AL L U .E A ST E LL CA
IA SOF A N REI . V A
National Museum of Roman Art Rafael Moneo: 1980-85 C/ José Ramón Mélida s/n
Moneo’s National Museum of Roman Art is perhaps one of the most important works of the last 50 years: completed just as historicist post-modernism was reaching full bloom, Moneo’s museum uses classical antiquity not as a system of ornamental appliqué or as a source of language, but rather as a system of constructive logic, of proportion, and of mute strength. The Rome that Moneo evokes here is that of the now-naked aqueducts, of the infrastructural Rome shorn of its stone and its references to Greek antiquity; this is the Rome of monumental feats of engineering. Moneo creates a Roman warehouse for the display of Roman artifacts, a building that is at once monumental, making literal reference to the culture it honors and displays, while nevertheless adapting to the adjacent neighborhood.
MER
At once modern and archaic, monumental and modest, abstract and literal. Moneo’s National Museum of Roman art is a haunting building, one that defies easy categorization.
Roman Amphitheatre and Aqueduct Amphitheatre - 15 BC Aqueduct - 1st century AD
MER
Observations: Mérida preserves more Roman ruins than any other city in Spain.
These structures were built quickly after the founding of Mérida by the Romans in 25 BC. The aqueduct was once 5 km (3 mi) long, but only an 830 m (2700 ft) stretch remains today, while the amphitheatre is still used for the Festival of Mérida every summer.
The Mérida auditorium and Conference Center is set on the west bank of the Guadiana River between a bridge by Santiago Calatrava and a railway bridge. Its exterior is characterized by the continuity of stone-like material, which is modern in its construction but still suggestive of the old Roman walls that exist in Mérida. The Conference Centre is seen as a monolithic piece that shapes a large elevated platform overlooking the city, which lies across the river. This terrace is a link between the two auditoria, which are the most characteristic features of the building. The building is used for music, theatre and opera, as well as an exhibition pavilion. The main auditorium for 1,000 spectators is rectangular in plan. An incline forms the seating area, with access from both the exterior platform and also from street level. The acoustic aspects were thought through with extreme detail, from the geometry of spaces to materiality, like the ceiling, with its zinc-clad wooden panels.
Palacio de Congresos de Mérida
Like Most Calatrava bridges, this bridge presents a four-level structural hierarchy. The dead and live loads on the roadways are transferred to 23 pairs of steel cables, which are transferred to the truss-like arch, which continues through its reinforced concrete piers and finally to the abutments. The 189 m span by 465 m length bridge lies between the two roadways, supporting them centrally; the weight of the dual roadways balances the structure. The 32 m deep arch features a cathedral-like walkway lying along the central support girder and above the traffic lanes for an unobstructed view over the Guadiana River to the adjacent Roman Bridge. The Lusitania Bridge was designed to supplement a 2000-yearold Roman bridge, the La Akazaba. The La Akazaba had been relegated to foot traffic only, so a new bridge was needed to handle both motor & foot traffic
Lusitania Bridge
Sobejano y Nieto 2004 Avenida Del Río S/N
1988/1991
MER
Calle Oviedo 12
LISBOA City Population: Metropolitan Area:
565,000 3,340,000
There is an unmistakable melancholy in Lisbon. This 3000-year-old city, ruled successively by Celts, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths, North African Muslims, and, for a time, the Spanish, is a place at once connected to distant territories and colonies, and seemingly removed from it all. In the plaintive, mourning sound of fado, or in the gently, and photogenically, crumbling facades of its tile covered blocks, Lisbon shows the faded traces of its imperial past. Rebuilt after the catastrophic earthquake of 1755 by Prime Minister Marquis de Pombal, Lisbon was the model of the Enlightenment city: the grided streets of the Baixa led to the monumental Praça do Comércio, which in turn led to the Tagus River and the Atlantic, and to Portugal’s colonial possessions, beyond. Although Lisbon is today a dynamic cultural and business center, and, after Madrid and Barcelona, the third largest metropolitan area in the Iberian Peninsula, it remains a city of faded beauty and past glory.
LIS
The Portuguese word saudade is can not be directly translated into English. A mix of nostalgia, longing, and lost love, saudade might well be the Portuguese national emotion, and Lisbon, as the nation’s capital, is its spiritual home.
PROJECT LIST Chiado Housing Baixa-Chiado Metro Station Expo 98 Grounds Portugal Pavillion Estaçao do Oriente
Álvaro Siza Álvaro Siza Various Álvaro Siza Santiago Calatrava
AV. ALMIR ANTE REIS
DE DA ER LIB DE AV.
ALFAMA BAIRRO ALTO BAIXA CHIADO
AV. DA RIBEIRA DAS NAUS
Chiado Housing Álvaro Siza 1988
Siza’s reconstruction of the Chiado quarter after a catastrophic fire is, initially at least, invisible. Siza restored the existing facades, and maintained the scale of the neighborhood and its architectural language. Only when one begins to occupy the new, surgically implanted plazas does one begin to notice Siza’s sensitive work.
Metro: Baixa-Chiado - Blue Line/Green Line
Baixa-Chiado Metro Station Álvaro Siza LIS
1998 Rua do Crucifixo 76 Metro: Baixa-Chiado - Blue Line/Green Line
Metro Station Baixa-Chiado is the one of the most crowded and intensive transfer stations of the city. The station serves the Baixa and Chiado districts and is the most important of the entire Metro network in Lisbon. This Metro Station was designed by architect Álvaro Siza Vieira and painter Angelo de Sousa. The Station is located 45 meters under the ground surface. An entrance of the station is located in the city center, Baixa, as well as one at a much higher lever in the Chiado district. These two entrances are linked by a series of escalators and passages. The interior of the station was designed with multiple number of round tunnels that are covered with small white tiles and gilded walls and ceilings.
The planning of the 1998 Lisbon World Exposition (EXPO '98) was led by Portuguese architects Antonio Taurino Mega Ferreira and Vasco Graca Moura and sponsored by The Bureau of International Expositions, commemorating the 500th Anniversary of Vasco da Gama's sea expedition arrival in India in 1498. Lisbon's efforts to change the city’s and country’s image from isolation to integration with Europe started in May of 1987 by joining the European Economic Community. EXPO 98 followed a less-successful exposition in 1994.
Expo 98 Antonio Taurino Mega Ferreira, Vasco Graca Moura, Alvaro Siza, Peter Chermayeff, Regino Cruz, SOM, Santiago Calatrava, and others. ç
1998 Metro: Oriente - Red Line Bus: 5, 25, 28, 44, 208, 708, 759, 782
Learning from the failures of Seville's '92 Expo, Lisbon pre-sold the structures built for the fair to ensure that the Expo zone would be used after the conclusion of the event. The fair's theme, "The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future," promoted architecture that revolved around oceanic topics. Such architecture included a included the Portuguese Pavilion by Alvaro Siza, a centralized Oceanarium by Peter Chermayeff, a 10,000 seat multipurpose auditorium by Regino Cruz and SOM. The Gare do Oriente, a multi-modal terminal by Santiago Calatrava, provided access to the site through train and bus, connecting the site to a new metro line and Europe's new longest bridge, the Vasco de Gama, spanning 17.2 km across the Tagus River.
LIS
Besides the successful 10,128,204 person attendance in the 132 days of operation, the EXPO '98 also fulfilled the planners’ dream of bettering the city. All major pavilions were converted for use after the fair’s close, leaving behind a thriving area where 25,000 locals reside, multinational corporations locate their headquarters, and 18 million tourists visit annually to enjoy the gardens, museums, and commercial area.
Portugal Pavillion Ă lvaro Siza 1998
LIS
Metro: Oriente - Red Line Bus: 5, 25, 28, 44, 208, 708, 759, 782
Designed as the host country pavilion for the 1998 EXPO, this building is separated into two distinct areas: the first was a programmed block which was to include an exhibition area, restaurants, and guest receptions. The other area was to be an opened but covered area, acting as a plaza. The covered plaza is sheltered by a hanging slab that spans 65 meters. This extremely thin reinforced concrete slab dips as it crosses the plaza. The sheer size of the span and the thinness of the slab create a true spectacle.
Estaรงao do Oriente Santiago Calatrava 1998 Metro: Oriente - Red Line Bus: 5, 25, 28, 44, 208, 708, 759, 782
LIS
Calatrava's Estaรงao do Oriente, also known as the Gare do Oriente, is one of the major transportation hubs in Lisbon, Portugal. It was completed in 1998 in order to accommodate visitors of the EXPO '98. In addition to containing a shopping center, the multifaceted structure also centralizes transportation by housing a bus station, train station, metro station, and a parking lot. These programs are layered below an expressive steel and glass trainshed. Estaรงao do Oriente's mix of neo-gothic, biomorphic, and vegetal forms have made the building a landmark.
PORTO
Architects travel to Porto to see Siza and Koolhaas. The rest of the world goes for the Port.
City Population: Metropolitan Area:
Tucked into and around the Douro River valley, Porto has long been linked to Great Britain, not only for the exports of its sweet fortified wine, but also through political alliance and military resistance to Napoleon’s invading army.
240,000 2,200,000
The old city of Porto, perched above the river, is a decaying and achingly beautiful baroque jumble. Though the region of Porto is a thriving economic zone, the city itself has lost nearly 100,000 inhabitants in the last thirty years, and it is in the crumbling historic core where the loss is most acute.
POR
Efforts are underway to rescue the old city, and Porto has recently inaugurated a light-rail regional metro, and emblematic works of architecture like Koolhaas’s Casa da Musica, and Siza’s Serralves museum. Still, as one sits sipping Port, looking back onto the majestic but forlorn core of Porto, one cannot help but wonder how much longer the neglected old city can hang on.
PROJECT LIST Porto Bridges Metro de Porto Casa da Musica Boa Vista Towers Casa de Cha Boa-Nova Leça Swimming Pools Porto School of Architecture
Gustave Eiffel Eduardo Souto Moura Rem Koolhaas/OMA Eduardo Souto Moura Álvaro Siza Álvaro Siza Álvaro Siza
RUA DA CONSTI TUIÇÃO
AV. DE BOA V ISTA
AV. DOS AL IADOS
RUA DE GONZALO CRISTOVAO
Porto Bridges Gustave Eiffel 1877
POR
Av. de Gustave Eiffel
Metro de Porto Stations by Eduardo Souto Moura 2003
Eiffel used innovative structural design techniques to build the Ponte Dona Maria Pia in 1877. The 1,128ft span rises 197ft above the Douro River. Eiffel's revolutionary use of iron enabled the then record-holding arched-bridge span to be constructed for 33% less money than the next lowest competitor's entry. The bridge was originally used as a railroad crossing to avoid a 7.5mile detour to a narrower part of the river. The graceful ironwork is reminiscent of Eiffel's well-known tower in Paris. His double-hinged crescent design allowed for the heavy loads of the railcars to be transferred to the foundation blocks along the riverbanks. The bridge operated until 1991 when it was replaced with a newer concrete bridge. It is the only bridge that crosses the Douro River that is not in use.
The Metro de Porto is the new electrically-powered light rail system built in Portugal's second largest city. There are 78 stations with fifteen underground. The 5 main lines are labeled with the letters "A" through "E" (also named by color) and reach six different municipalities. The design of the station and system graphics is simple and elegant, often creating dramatic spaces through manipulation of light and perspective. In the underground stations especially, Souto Moura coordinates a play of light in the transitional space between street level and the underground station.
Casa da Música began its design life as a house for a Dutchman. The client asked for a design based on three of his neuroses: a hatred for clutter, uncertainty about the condition of family, and fear of Y2K. To address the phobia of mess, Koolhaas proposed that the client imagine the house as a container absorbing any amount of chaos. Individual spaces would be excavated from the storage and their community would be a tunnel completely free of furniture, drilled through the form from end to end. To solve the Y2K phobia, the entire house stood on a disk that enabled it to rotate to particular views, moments, weather, etc. Although the client was enthusiastic, he was not completely convinced and took back his initial verbal agreement.
Casa da Música Rem Koolhaas/OMA 2004 Avenida da Boavista, 604-610 Metro: Casa da Música - Lines A, B, C, E
POR
Once the agreement fell through, Koolhaas realized there were only two weeks left to finish the competition for a concert hall in Porto, Portugal. Struggling with the requirement of an acoustically perfect shoebox, Koolhaas realized the house designed for the Dutchman, enlarged, offered a new view; the family's tunnel could become the auditorium shoebox by removing it rather than building it. The rest of the program was to follow. Koolhaas wanted to redefine the traditional relationship between concert hall and the public, where the majority knows only the exterior and only a minority knows what it's like to be inside. Casa da Música reveals its interior contents without being obvious by allowing the public to use its space from night to day; not just night to night. The interior creates a maze for the occupant to explore; creating time and experiences one may not have known had existed.
Boa Vista Towers Eduardo Souto Moura Av. de Boa Vista
POR
1998-2008
Casa de Cha Boa-Nova Álvaro Siza 1963 Rua Cel. Helder Ribeiro, Matosinhos Metro: Mercado - Line A Observations: Open every day except Sunday
For this building, in development for nearly 10 years, architect Eduardo Souto de Moura modified a Miesian style. The tower sits prominently along Porto's longest street, seeming to disrupt the otherwise flat landscape. Its deep grided exterior frame blocks the offices inside from the intense heat; on the face directly facing the sun, Souto Moura took the extruded grid that frames the windows, and flattened it against the face of the building, creating shade. On the opposite side, Souto de Moura dealt with the issue of the building’s facade being nearly entirely in its own shade, creating difficult heating and cooling situations. As a result, he chose to follow the same grid system implied elsewhere, and formed a ledge system that was both visually appealing and practical for maintaining the ambient temperature within.
The Boa Nova Tea House was originally started by Portuguese architect Fernando Távora, who turned the project over to Álvaro Siza after picking a site on the cliffs. The building is not far from where Siza grew up, making the setting for the restaurant incredibly familiar to the architect. The architecture of the Boa Nova was the result of building up the landscape, and through careful analysis of the rock formations, plant life, the sea, and the weather of the area. The secluded restaurant is removed from the main road about 300 meters and is reached by a series of platforms, stairs, and a white stone path.
Álvaro Siza's Leca Swimming Pools, or Piscinas das Mares, is a recreational complex for swimmers of all ages. The complex has an adult and children's swimming pool, changing facilities, and a café.
Leça Swimming Pools
Upon approach of the site, much of the complex is hidden from view. The architect leads the users down a wide ramp into the changing facilities. So far the shoreline has been hidden from view by the large colored concrete walls that make up the walls of the complex. It is not until the user has exited the changing facilities that he/she is introduced to the lake and the pools. The pools are wrapped not only by man made concrete ledges, but also by the existing rocks along the shore. The mounds of rock holding the water in the pools create a faultless transition that blurs together the artificial and the natural.
On Avenida da Liberdade, just 15 minute walk south of Siza's Boa Nova Tea House
The Faculty of Architecture rests on a terraced site bounded by a highway to the north and overlooking the Douro River estuary to the south. The walled estate of the Quinta da Povoa and Carlos Ramos Pavilion form an eastern boundary to the site. The program, designed to serve 500 students, is organized in two wings of buildings forming a raised triangular campus. The continuous forms of the northern wing shield the site from the adjacent highway and include: administration spaces, auditoriums, a semi-circular exhibition gallery, and a library. The four free-standing pavilions of the southern wing contain studios and professors' offices on the ground floor. The positioning of these volumes creates varying openings to the river and its southern view without disrupting the spatial density of the triangular campus. These volumes vary in height and are unified at the base by a longitudinal gallery set three meters below the level of the central open space. The two wings of buildings converge to the west, forming the main entry to the complex.
Porto School of Architecture
Álvaro Siza 1966
Álvaro Siza 1987-1994 Via Panorâmica 4150 Bus: 35, 36, 37, 78
POR
Metro: Mercado - Line A
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA City Population:
94,300
In 814, a Galician Bishop claimed to discover the bones of Saint James the Apostle, who had travelled to Spain to spread the Christian faith. The bishop was, he said, guided by a star, to the field (campus stellae) of Saint James’s burial. Although the Vatican has never confirmed that the remains found in Santiago de Compostela are truly those of Saint James, the city of Santiago has been for centuries, and is still today, one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Europe, drawing about 100,000 pilgrims annually across the Camino de Santiago, or, Way of Saint James. This route, marked by the symbol of the scallop shell, makes Santiago a draw for religious pilgrims and tourists alike.
SDC
Santiago is also the political and cultural capital of the Spanish Autonomous Region of Galicia, and is home to an important university. While Galicia has traditionally been one of Spain’s poorer and more isolated regions, Santiago is well-preserved, elegant, and, thanks to the university, a surprisingly youthful and energetic city, still collecting its wealth from the pilgrims who continue to arrive, while also creating a distinctly Galician cultural identity and a pride in that identity and the language that helps to form it.
PROJECT LIST Catedral de Santiago Centro Galego de Arte Contemporaneo Cidade da Cultura de Galicia School of Communications
Álvaro Siza Peter Eisenman Álvaro Siza
RUA D O VILA R
S RTA O H DAS RUA
DE AV.
I LOS R A NC XOA
A AD RU
DE E T FON
RUA D A VIRX E DE C ERCA
RU AD AS RO DA S
NIO O T AN SAN
Catedral de Santiago "Bernard the elder" (head architect), Robertus Galperinus, "Bernard the younger� 1075-1128 (expanded/embellished between 1500s-1700s) Praza do Obradoiro 15705
The Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is said to be built on the burial place of Saint James the Apostle. Originally, the burial site (first discovered in 819) that now houses the Cathedral was occupied by an earlier church, which burned down in 997. Alfonso VI of Castile then commissioned the building of the Cathedral in 1075 with the patronage of bishop Diego Pelaez. The Cathedral has become one of the most important pilgrimage for Christians, who upon their arrival will kiss a golden mollusk shell, which sits above the altar. The Cathedral is composed primarily of granite and was built using the same plan as the church of Saint Sernin's Basilica in Toulouse, France. The current baroque facade of the Cathedral has been subject to changes throughout the years, while the interior remains Romanesque.
SDC
Across from the plaza is the Pazo de Raxoi, the town hall, as well as several other important city buildings.
Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo Álvaro Siza 1988-1993
The Galician Center for Contemporary Art is a space for cultural exhibitions. Created in 1993, this center is a product of the politics of post-1980s Spain, which promoted the development of cultural platforms; this project was part of an effort to re-introduce the isolated and traditionally poor region of Galicia into the international artistic circuit.
Rúa Valle Inclán s/n The Centro Galego de Arte Contemporáneo is located in one of the most evocative and symbolic areas of Santiago's monumental zone: at the limits of the old town, beside the gate through which the pilgrims' route known as the French Way enters the city. Stretching out behind the CGAC are the Convent's grounds, recently restored as a public park, maintaining the original paths and a number of archaeological remains.
SDC
Siza's building reflects a deeply personal vision of architecture and space. Line, light and volume combine to produce an architecture that is both austere and serene. Stone is used, linking with tradition and setting up a dialogue with the surrounding buildings, in an expression of respect for the sense of history that pervades Santiago. The building centers on a single long axis, its inner spaces opening out along this axis like the leaves of a fan. Externally, it is bounded by high walls; yet the inside is flooded with light. The main entrance hall leads to the exhibition rooms, the auditorium and the library. The upper terrace reveals the building's plan, and offers magnificent views of Santiago's old quarter, giving the visitor a clear insight into the architect's strategy for integrating the building with its surroundings.
The Cidade da Cultura de Galicia was begun in 1999 and is designed by Peter Eisenman. It is located on Monte GaiĂĄs, a small hill that overlooks Santiago de Compostela and is still currently under construction. Starting in 2006, portions of the project will begin to open in phases until its final completion in 2012. The overall project consists of six buildings that are split into three parts. These include the Museum of Galician History and the New Technologies center; the Music Theater and Central Services building; and the Galician Library and Periodicals Archive. The design forms a man-made topography standing in stark contrast to the medieval core of Santiago.
Cidade da Cultura de Galicia
The building is set within the new university zone. The main unit unfolds in an east-west direction, respecting the south alignment of the Department of Languages. The nine classrooms and the lecturers' offices are set in the tallest zone on the top floor. The lecture rooms have an amphitheater design, with ramp, stair and lift access. The radio and visual studios are set on the level with the lowest height, along with the audio-visual laboratories. All areas are arranged along a north-facing gallery, with the main atrium between the classrooms and audiovisual rooms. The library, entered from the atrium duplex, has a central location. Its volume defines the broad entrance portico.
School of Communications
Peter Eisenman:
SDC
1999-2012
Ă lvaro Siza 1993-1999 Avenida de Castelao, s/n, Campus Norte Bus: 5, 15, C2
León, today a provinical capital, was once an important Roman settlement, and was later the capital of the independent kingdom of León. Signs of its former splendor remain in the well-conserved historic core, and in its 13th-century Gothic cathedral.
LEON 137,000 204,000
Recent works, like Mansilla and Tuñon´s MUSAC and Auditorio, have infused this city with new civic monuments, making this small city in the meseta a virtual pilgrimage site for architects.
LEON
City Population: Metropolitan Area:
PROJECT LIST Auditorio Ciudad de León MUSAC
Mansilla y Tuñon Mansilla y Tuñon
AV .D
EL
OS
RE
YE
SL
EO
NE
SE
S
AV. DE
ÁLVA RO L ÓPE Z NU ÑEZ
E DR PA EL .D AV A ISL
GRA NV IA D ES AN MA RCO S
II OÑO D R EO AV. D
IA ENC L A DE P AV.
HA ANC E L L CA
Auditorio Ciudad de LeĂłn Mansilla y TuĂąon 1994-2001 Av. Reyes Leoneses 4
LEON
Bus: 11,12, 13
This auditorium was commissioned as a result of a competition held in 1994. The site is located in an area less than one mile from the city's historic center. The program consisted of designing a high-profile contemporary auditorium hall, a small administrative wings and an exhibition area. Mansilla and TuĂąon's scheme was the result of a careful evaluation of the complex requirements imposed by both program and site, while developing a logical system of construction in which materiality and the penetration of natural light have an important role in the production, perception, and definition of the space.
MUSAC Mansilla y TuĂąon 2004 Av. Reyes Leoneses 24 Bus: 11,12, 13
LEON
This project won the 2007 European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture Mies van der Rohe Award.This contemporary art museum is a set of interconnected irregularlyshaped exhibition spaces. These spaces are created by manipulating a basic structural and planning module. The façade is a grid of huge colored panels of glass that gives this building a striking appearance.
Burgos is a small, charming city where the people still go out for pinchos to meet their neighbors and friends without even having to make plans.
BURGOS City Population: Metropolitan Area
178,000 193,000
The city is over 1000 years old. Pre-historic colonies have passed through the city, though the city was officially founded in 884 by the Count Diego Rodríguez Porcelos as a commission from King Alfonso III to create a fort protecting the surrounding territories from the Islamic invasions that had conquered most of the Iberian Peninsula.
BUR
The city has grown, developing its own identity as a provincial capital and as the second largest city of the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León. The city is home to one of the world’s most beautiful Gothic cathedrals, the Catedral de Santa María. The old medieval stoned streets coexist with new, modern architecture, and the city has been nominated to be the European Capital of Culture in 2016, an opportunity for proud burgaleses to show off their city.
PROJECT LIST Catedral de Burgos Museum of Human Evolution
Juan Navarro Baldeweg
PA LO M A CA LL ED EL A A ISL
A CI N O E SE AL P PA E .D V A EL AV. D
D DRI MA DE LE CAL
LA DE
A AZ OR L P AY M
ORCE DALH E GUA COND
Catedral de Burgos Various Architects 13th-century to 16th-century
This grand gothic cathedral was begun during the rein of King Fernando III in the 13th century. The Burgos cathedral has undergone centuries of alterations. It is believed that one of the first architects to work on Burgos was the Maestro Ricardo (1203-1226) followed by the French Maesto Enrique (1243-1260) who were in charge of building the apse and the nave respectively. The main body of the cathedral was accomplished within the 13th century.
BUR
In 1442 the Bishop Alonso de Cartage単a was in charge of the project. Bishop Alfonso elected Juan de Colonia to erect the architectural and sculptural works of the chapel. Succeeding Juan was his son Simon and Grandson Francisco. The west towers that opened up into the bell chambers along with the spires were completed between 1442 and 1458 .Simon completed the chapels of St. Anna and the Constable of Castile while his son, Francisco, worked in the final major reconstruction of the collapsed central lantern in 1539. Though the exterior is a relatively pure example of French-influenced Gothic, the interior, modified through the centuries, contains elements of the Baroque and Renaissance.
Museum of Human Evolution Juan Navarro Baldeweg 2000-current Calle del Conde de Vallellano
BUR
The Museum of Human Evolution is designed to be an excavation. One enters the building at the top of a gradual slope that has risen from the river and eventually marries with the interior. The slope is symbolic of entering into the earth as if to find our ancestors. The exterior is glass and aluminum panel clad, pierced to diffuse light in a pattern inspired by the sections of terrain cut in a nearby excavation site. The interior has several volumes of activity and several small passages exhibiting information about excavation furthering the concept of digging.
BILBAO / BILBO City Population: Metropolitan Area:
354,000 950,000
Those who talk of Frank Gehry and the “Bilbao Effect” tend to oversimplify things. The easy narrative is that Gehry’s effervescent Guggenheim Museum singlehandedly rescued a depressed backwater into a world city. The truth is that Bilbao was long an important industrial and financial center of the Basque Country, and that the Guggenheim was only one fragment in a much larger plan of urban regional transformation.
BBO
The Guggenheim sits in the middle of a redesigned riverfront, where new housing, a new opera house, a university library, and a tram line combine to create a powerful urban ensemble. The city of Bilbao itself, with its charming old quarter, is now linked together with Norman Foster’s exquisitely detailed Metro stations. The Bilbao Effect, as a mode of urban transformation, is real. Frank Gehry, however, is only one piece of it.
PROJECT LIST Metro de Bilbao Guggenheim Bilbao Euskalduna Palacio de Congresos Barakaldo Soccer Stadium Deusto Library
Norman Foster Frank Gehry Soriano y Palacios Eduardo Arroyo/NO.MAD Rafael Moneo
E RT ITA IB UR
ALAM EDA
DE
DO RRE A Z A EM D O E PAS
O SE PA
RA BAR I O AND B A DE AV.
ON D IEGO LOPE Z HA ROKO KALE NAGU SIA
AUTONOMIA KALE A
CASCO VIEJO
Metro de Bilbao Norman Foster 1988-1995
The planning authorities focused on the design of the stations, their functionality, and convenience of passengers even from the beginning of the project. Norman Foster was hired to design and plan the underground stations, and was determined to combine architecture and engineering in the process. In doing so, he and his team were commended and awarded for the design of the Sarriko station. The street architecture of that particular station was similar to other worm-shaped stations of the metro, with its large glass case, but it was in a more squared-off form. On top of that, it had a larger shell with a consistent use of organized entrances.
BBO
With a total of 36 stations, 9 substations, moving walkways, lifts, and escalators, the Bilbao Metro provides a high standard of service to its customers. In their aim to ensure appropriate air quality in the stations, each station has a ventilation system of fans, filters, silencers, conduits under the platforms and gate-valves. Foster created tall station caverns where the track, platforms and mezzanines are located, with access areas nearby. At street level, the glass and steel canopies (called “Fosteritos� by locals) recall the tunnels below ground as they emerge from the earth to announce metro stations throughout the city.
The titanium, glass and stone-clad building sits along the Nevi贸n River, using the public plaza at the entrance to encourage movement between the old city and the riverfront. The main entry is a central atrium that connects the three floors of the building. The museum consists of three collection spaces: square rooms housing the permanent collection, dynamic rectangular spaces housing the temporary collection, and 11 distinct galleries for the collection of selected living artists. The public spaces are accessible from both the exterior and the museum proper and consist of a 300-seat auditorium, restaurant, and retail space.
Guggenheim Bilbao Frank Gehry 1991-1997 Avenida Abandoibarra, 2 Tram: Guggenheim Metro: Moy煤a - L1, L2 Bus: 1, 10, 13, 18, 27, 38, 48, 71
BBO
The Bilbao Guggenheim Museum came out of collaboration between the Basque Country Administration and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation as a first stage of the redevelopment of the former trade and warehouse district. The Guggenheim asked Gehry to reconceive the notion of the art museum. The result, one of the most notable and most talked about buildings of the last 50 years, led in part to the reinvigoration of what had been a somewhat decaying industrial city.
Euskalduna Palacio de Congresos Federico Soriano, Dolores Palacios 1994-1999
The Euskalduna Palacio de Congresos is a space with double uses: an opera house and a conference center. In order to provide separate accesses for different users, Soriano and Palacios designed the building with two interwoven lobbies, united by the shared empty spaces, with platforms abutted at different levels.
Av. de Abandoibarra, 4 Soriano and Palacios claimed the building has "no scale" and "no shape", as it is the result of building a dense, compact section that contains all the required uses within itself. All spaces have been fitted together to fill the gaps and compose a volume that occupies the least possible surface area.
Barakaldo Soccer Stadium (Lasaessare)
The soccer stadium is located in Barakaldo, a suburb north of Bilbao. It is home to Barakaldo Football Club.
BBO
Tram: Euskalduna Metro: San MamĂŠs - L1, L2
Eduardo Arroyo/NO.MAD 2003 Paseo El Ferrocarril s/n. Tram: Euskalduna Metro: Urbinaga - L2
The building was modeled to simulate a forest through shadows and color variations that are usually found in that environment. The exterior is clad in steel plates that vertically overlap to create allow natural light in that is similar to the foliage of trees.
Deusto Library Rafael Moneo 2003-2008 Ram贸n Rubial 1 Tram: Guggenheim
BBO
Rafael Moneo's Jesuit University Library in Deusto is a monolithic, monochromatic building located in a park just off the left bank of the Nervi贸n River in Bilbao. Due to its proximity to the Deusto university campus and Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Museum, Moneo considered these two buildings when designing the library. Each has different roles and it is difficult to ignore the Guggenheim's overall important role but the library does establish its own public face while simultaneously maintaining continuity within the vicinity. Moneo used Seves glass bricks to cover over three quarters of the building, turning the library at night into a beautiful lighthouse that is lit up from within. The seven-story library has over 800,000 volumes, which includes more than 60,000 historic volumes printed between the 16th and 19th century, and over one thousand tables on the three levels above ground with views of the Guggenheim Museum and the Nervi贸n River. There are three additional levels below the ground floor which are used for storage.
SAN SEBASTIAN / DONOSTIA
SEB
City Population: Metropolitan Area:
182,000 405,000
San Sebastián (Donostia in Euskera) is at once the cultural heart of the independenceminded Basque Country, and a distinctly continental beach resort town modeled on the nearby French city of Biarritz. This mix of proud Basque identity and bourgeois French pretension, combined with the city’s breathtaking setting, and a local cuisine that is the envy of Spain, makes San Sebastián one of the most beautiful and most beloved cities in all of Europe. It was, no doubt, this charm that in 1885 led Queen Regent Maria Cristina officially to move the Royal Court to this “Paris of the South” during the summer months, a custom that continued through the Franco dictatorship. This city´s dense old quarter is skillfully integrated with the grided extension of the 1860s, with its broad boulevards, and neo-gothic cathedral. Moneo’s Kursaal, begrudgingly accepted by Donostiarros, is only the latest inducement to visit a city of apparently effortless elegance and natural beauty.
PROJECT LIST Kursaal Peine de los Vientos Chillida-Leku Museum Real Club Náutico
Rafael Moneo Eduardo Chillida Eduardo Chillida Aizpurúa y Labayén
LA RIO R ZU AV. R AYO C. M
D AR V E UL BO L DE DA E M ALA
EA BID I R HI M E AR UN S A AT ASK
HA NC O C LA E D EO S A P
Kursaal Rafael Moneo 1999
SEB
Av. Zurriola s/n
Moneo's design addresses the site’s "geographical accidents." In San Sebastiån, the Cantabrian Sea enters La Concha Harbor and produces accidents of geography; beaches, islands, bays, and hills. Moneo refused to design a building that violated the natural landscape and presence of the river. Moneo designed Kursaal as two separate volumes standing at the mouth of the river as if they were gigantic rocks. To celebrate the idea of geographic accident, he inclined each prism three degrees on the vertical towards the sea and Mount Ulia and Mount Urgull beyond. Each prism contains an auditorium placed asymmetrically within it as to destroy pure form and create fragile composition. The exterior curtain walls are made from curved laminated glass within an aluminum structure which provides changes in appearance of the volumes from day to night.
Peine de los Vientos Eduardo Chillida 1977 Playa de Ondarreta : Avenida Satrustegi 8
SEB
At the end of Ondarreta Beach, below Monte Igeldo
Eduardo Chillida designed this series of three huge steel monuments that are anchored to rocks surrounded by the ocean. This space provides a great example of balance between sculpture and landscape. Eduardo Chillida is considered one of the Basque Country's most accomplished artists. This display reveals the artistic path he took in search of the real. His search, which he carried out by testing a wide variety of materials, led him to a desire for understanding, and brought about some of his most distinguished works of art in the process. Chillida's philosophy is that art attains greater strength through a greater focus during the creation process.
One day I dreamt of a utopia: finding a space where my sculptures could rest and where people could walk among them as if walking through the woods. -Eduardo Chillida
Chillida-Leku Museum
Chillida-Leku is the culmination of one of Chillida's lifelong dreams: to create a space for his work where it could be on permanent display. The museum is divided into four areas: A 30 acre hillside with beech trees, oaks and magnolias studded with over 40 sculptures; a service area featuring an auditorium, with images of the artist at work; a rest area; and a gift shop. Lastly, the centerpiece of the museum is the Zabalaga farmhouse, which houses smaller format pieces in Cor-Ten steel, alabaster, granite, terracotta, plaster, wood and paper.
2000
Chillida has created a space for dialogue between the arts. Chillida's sculpture garden, or,
The Real Club Náutico de San Sebastián, which was founded in 1896, is located in one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, San Sebastián. The social building of the Royal Yacht Club of St. Sebastian was built in 1928-1929 and was designed by architects José Manuel Aizpurua and Joaquin Labayén. The building is today is considered a jewel of 1920s rationalism, and was featured in Henry Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson´s influential “International Style” Exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932 . The building is heavily inspired by ships and yachts. The stairways, terraces, parasols and windows provide all elements of a ship docked in the port, with layers of wrap-around terraces that recall a ship’s decks.
Eduardo Chillida
Bus: Autobuses Garayar: Bus G2 departs every half hour from Calle Okendo in San Sebastian Pedestrian access. Bus stop/Museum entrance is on the other side of the highway; there is an underground pedestrian passageway.
Real Club Náutico Aizpurúa y Labayén 1928-29 Paseo de la Concha
SEB
Jauregi Bailara, 066; 20120 Hernani
PPA
PAMPLONA / IRUÑA City Population: Metropolitan Area:
195,800 319,200
Long-prized for its strategic military value, Pamplona is the capital of the Autonomous Region of Navarra, and was previously the capital of the independent Kingdom of Navarra. Its vital military role condensed the city center behind fortified walls, many of which remain; the city was slow to demolish these bulwarks, and a dense city emerged behind them. The city hosts the San Fermín festival, which includes the encierros, or, running of the bulls. It is curious that this festival, so intimately identified with Spain by the nonSpanish, should be hosted in a city that is still identified as the true capital of an expanded Basque Country, and for many years asserted its independence from Spain’s central authorities. This tension seems, however, to have been resolved here; the city is a peaceful and prosperous one, with one of the highest standards of living in Spain.
PROJECT LIST Plaza de Toros de Pamplona Baluarte Palacio de Congresos Archivo General de Navarra Museo Oteiza
Rafael Moneo Patxi Mangado Rafael Moneo Francisco Sáenz de Oiza
R AYO M . C
II SI LO AR EC .D AV
NACIO AV. SAN IG
AV. DEL EJE RCIT O
A JA NAVARR A B A L E D . AV
Plaza de Toros de Pamplona Rafael Moneo
PPA
1967 Amaia Kalea s/n Bus: 2, 3, 5
Baluarte Palacio de Congresos Patxi Mangado 2003 Plaza del Baluarte, s/n Bus: 1, 4, 8, 9, 12, 13
The original ring was designed in 1922 as a replacement of old bull ring on Carlos III Avenue. The extension of the Bullring was undertaken because of the increasing number of visitors who come to see the San FermĂn Festival. The original bullring could contain 14,000 spectators and the extension added capacity for 6000 more. The architect, Rafael Moneo approached this project in two main terms, a concrete structure and a continued reference to the original building, which itself referred to Renaissance architecture in Spain. For the project, it was also important to harmonize the original giant ring into the city's image and the environment inside during the San FermĂn Festival. Moneo extended the top tiers so the interior space would be continued within the limits, while minimizing any changes of the building’s exterior. The roof is a light metal, finished with glazed ceramic pieces.
Opened late in October of 2003, the Baluarte Palacio de Congresos serves Navarra as the center, literally and functionally, for all types of civic meetings and event needs. Funded by the government of Navarra and designed by Patxi Mangado, a Navarra native, this civic complex sits on a site located on a transitional boundary between the modern city and its historical Renaissance stronghold. In efforts to emphasize the importance of the city's transformation from the old to the new and a 'concern for urban scale,' Mangado clads the sleek volume with dark grey granite slabs from Zimbabwe and dresses its interior with beech and tropical wood.
Archivo General de Navarra
The Museo Oteiza, built for showing the works of Jorge Oteiza, is a monolithic building that goes against the typical. Instead of building a "sculpture to contain a sculpture", the architect built a simple yet stunning structure that helps to emphasize the artwork inside. The lighting conditions of the museum were based on completely contradicting those of a church. Whereas a church focuses light on the alter space and nave, this museum focuses the light on the side walls and leaves the central corridor darker and more mysterious. The gallery layout is based on the artist's research into the radical artistic realm. His thoughts on emptiness and geometric spaces create what he calls a "spiritual and metaphysical" reaction to the main hall as it spreads out into the subordinate spaces. The main gallery is connected to the artist's original home. The older structure acts as his workshop where he produces pieces for the main gallery. The spaces blend harmoniously through a glazed gallery that connects the museum to the workshop. The new and old buildings blend seamlessly to form an integrated form.
Museo Oteiza
PPA
With origins in the twelfth century, the building known as El Archivo General de Navarra has seen many different uses. With its most recent 2003 renovation designed by Rafael Moneo, it is currently, as the name implies, being used as a place to store government documents and as a consultation and public information outlet. Moneo's renovation includes a restoration of the original, medieval building as well as a new, modern, and technological building perfectly suited for storing government documents. The new building has a capacity for 44,000 meters of shelving and includes areas for things such as a restoration workshop, photography laboratories, assembly hall, and a specialized library.
Rafael Moneo Calle Dos de Mayo, s/n
Franciso Sรกenz de Oiza 1996 NA-2373 Pamplona Bus: Rio Irati, S.A. Bus station Avd. Conde Oiveto, 6
PPA
2003
ZZA
ZARAGOZA City Population: Metropolitan Area:
682,300 783,800
Zaragoza is in the middle. Roughly 300 km from Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao, and Toulouse, the city’s centrality has in the past made it an important trade hub, a role it is once again assuming with the expansion of the Spanish high-speed rail system. Captial of the Autonomous Region of Aragón, Zaragoza was founded by the Romans, who called the city Caesar Augusta. This name was in turn was modified to the Arabic Saraqusta, and converted to its current Castillan name. The evolution of the city´s name is, in a sense, a condensed history of the broad social changes on the Iberian Peninsula. And the latest reincarnation of Zaragoza, the modernization and spectacle assembled for the 2008 Expo, parallel earlier efforts in Barcelona, Seville and Bilbao.
PROJECT LIST Bridge Pavillion Expo Building Spain Pavillion Palacio de Congresos La Seo Cathedral Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar
Zaha Hadid Basilio Tobias Patxi Mangado Sobejano y Nieto Ventura Rodríguez
C. CO NDE DE
ARAN DA
AV. DE C AV. ESA DE R AU LA GUS IND TO EP EN DE NC IA
EXPO 2008
C. MA YO R
C. DE LC OS O
ZZA
Bridge Pavilion Zaha Hadid 2008 Bus: Line 48
The Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion was built as part of the Water and Sustainable Development Expo known as the Zaragoza Expo 2008.The bridge was built over the Ebro River as an entrance to the expo area and at the same time served as a multi-level exhibition area. Hadid chose an innovative sustainable material, fibreC (a glass fiber concrete), to envelop the outer skin of the structure with 29,000 triangles in diverse grey nuances. The Bridge Pavilion is organized around 4 main elements Hadid calls "pods" that act as both structural elements as well as spatial enclosures to house exhibition space for the show. This section is projected diagonally across the shores of the Ebro River, resting on a small island in the middle for reinforcement. Each of the four pods intersects with the others to allow the weight of the bridge to be distributed across four trusses and also to create exciting possibilities. Interiors become complex spaces where visitors move from one pod to the next through small spaces that acts as filters. These zones diffuse sound and sight from one exhibition space to the next, allowing a clear understanding of the content in each pod. The body of the building evolves from the extrusion of a diamond section along a slightly curved path.
Expo Building Basilio Tobías 2008 Bus: Line 48
text The Spain Pavilion, also part of Zaragoza’s Expo 2008,was designed to focus on renewable energy, working as a step toward the future of sustainable design. Often referred to as the "forest of Spain," the exhibition space serves as a reminder of the scarcity of natural areas within the urban environment. Columns that compose the building’s facade work to evaporatively cool the space, while a large overhang shelters the building from the summer sun, providing additional space for photovoltaic cells. The interior, sheltered from the heat, invites visitors to linger. Within the building's main exhibition space, Mangado obscured the division between exhibits by using amorphous forms extending from the celing down.
Spain Pavillion Patxi Mangado 2008 Bus: Line 48
ZZA
The Expo Building is one of many structures built in Zaragoza for Expo 2008. The building is built on 3800 square meters and is composed of two perfectly prismatic volumes with glass facades that complement the other venues and structures in the exhibition. The fivefloored building (with offices spread across four floors and one floor for receptions and events) was used for administrative purposes for the Expo and also is the headquarters of the Secretary of the United Nations on the Water for Life Decade project. The walls are made of two layers of glass for insulation and even the elevators have glass walls for more transparency. The outer layer of the building is made of horizontal louvers that can be opened to let in air or light.
ZZA
Palacio de Congresos de Arag贸n Sobejano y Nieto 2008 Avda. Palacio de Congresos, 1
The profile of the convention center offers geometries that reflect the inner division of the different spaces in the interior. This ascending and descending roof also allows for the expressive presence of natural light within these spaces. The wave-like roof describes the fluid and continuous motion of the large interior space, which demonstrates the public character of the building.
Bus: Line 48
La Seo Cathedral begun 1140 Plaza de la Seo, s/n Bus: Lines 35, 39
La Seo Cathedral, also known as la Catedral del Salvador, is located in the Plaza Pilar of Zaragoza, Spain. The Seo is a Roman Catholic cathedral that has been expanded and has undergone many restorations since 1318. These expansions and additions have added many architectural styles including Gothic, Mudejar, Renaissance, and Baroque. La Seo is one of the two Cathedrals in Zaragoza, the other being the Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Pilar. La Seo has been and will continue to be the heart of the Roman Catholics in the city of Zaragoza. More than 12 million Euros have been spent on restauration of the building and that amount is expected to rise more in the future, as there is no sign of stopping the restoration and expansion processes of the building.
The present Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar is a Roman Catholic church in Baroque style, begun in 1681 by Charles II, King of Spain. Later in 1725, Ventura Rodríguez was commissioned to transform the church with new additions of the eleven cupolas and four towers. The interior vaults and domes of the church were painted by the world renowned painter, Francisco Goya.
Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar Ventura Rodríguez 1681-1872 Plaza de Nuestra Señora del Pilar, 19 Bus: Lines 23, 27, 28, 29, 34, 36, 43, 35
ZZA
The Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar is no ordinary church, for the purpose that it was created is of great significance. Numerous churches and expansions have been built and destroyed on this site over the years, though all of them stood for the same meaning. It is said that circa 40 A.D., th Virgin Mary appeared to St. James in order to help him in spreading the gospel. Upon arrival, Mary requested St. James to build a church in that spot in her honor and gave him a small wooden statue of herself and a column of jasper as evidence of her appearance. This chapel is meaningful because it is said to be the first church dedicated to her as well as the last known vision of her before her Assumption.
BCN
Barcelona is a beautiful, privileged palimpsest. Its layers of history and the pride of its inhabitants, has made this city one the most innovative and energetic European cities.
BARCELONA City Population: Metropolitan Area:
1,615,900 3,161,000
The first traces of Barcelona appear between the years 13 and 15 BC when the Roman Empire established a military outpost, and later the colony of Julia Augusta Faventia Paterna Barcino at the top of the Mont Taber, a hill where the Romans traced the typical Cardus and Decumanus as an origin for a new village. Barcino, as it was commonly called, was just one more village in the network of empire on the Iberian Peninsula, where the most important Roman city was Tarraco, (now Tarragona). Because of its natural conditions and beauty, the city grew quickly, developing an important harbor and as a consequence, increasing its strategic location within the Roman Empire. Today, Barcelona is the capital of Catalunya, one of the autonomous communities that constitute Spain. Barcelona is known worldwide for its architecture and its urban quality. The city itself is a compendium of ideas about the city, from the Roman Cardus and Decumanus through the medieval city, to the Cerdรก Plan, which is an inescapable precedent in the study of cities. The Cerdรก Plan is notable for its coherence and its comprehensive approach as an urban plan, but also as a container for a diverse, extraordinary display of architecture. Ildefonso Cerdรก proposed an extension of the medieval, walled city that represented an area six times larger than the existing city. Through the construction and consolidation of the plan, Barcelona successfully sought the attention of the world, producing world exhibitions as an excuse to develop certain parts of the city. In this way, the 1888 Great Exhibition developed the area occupied by the old fort, now Parc de la Ciutadella, and in 1929, the Electrical Industries Exhibition reshaped the area around Montjuic. Besides the several architectural works of great value that emerged from these exhibitions (among them the German Pavilion of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe) these events extended the synergies of the urban grid. But the story doesn't stop there. After years of political repression under Franco, in the 1980's Barcelona emerged again as an example of urban transformation and architecture. When the city was selected to host the 1992 Summer Olympic Games, Barcelona picked up the unfinished Cerdรก Plan to re-develop industrial areas and to recover the coastline for the city. The master plan for the Olympics was just one more in a series of steps for a city that continually reinvents itself. In 2004, the city opened of the last leg of the Diagonal Avenue, finally extending this boulevard to the the sea. At the end of the Diagonal, the city produced the Forum of Cultures 2004, a modern version of the world expositions of the previous century. Once again, the city produced a new focus of attention and development in a city where you never seem to have enough time.
Gaudeixi de la ciutat! (enjoy the city)
BCN PROJECT LIST Parc Güell Palau Güell Palau de la Música Catalana Casa Milá, Casa Batllo Casa Amatllet Sagrada Familia Hospital de Sant Pau Parc Guell CCCB MACBA Mercado de Santa Caterina Torre Agbar Hotel Habitat Sky Parc del Poblenou Parc Diagonal Mar Illa de la Llum Housing Barcelona Forum Forum Solar Collector and Promenade Barcelona Pavilion Caixa Forum Barcelona Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya Fundació Miró Palau Sant Jordi Olympic Plaza and Stadium Barcelona Botanic Gardens Montjuic Cemetery Igualda Cemetery Barceloneta Housing Gas Natural Building Fish Sculpture Mapfre Tower Hotel Arts Cathedral of Girona Auditori de Girona Walden 2 Housing L'Illa Complex L'Auditori Library and Senior Center
Antoni Gaudí Antoni Gaudí Lluís Doménech i Montaner Antoni Gaudí Josep Puig i Cadafalch Antoni Gaudí Lluís Doménech i Montaner Antoni Gaudí Villaplana and Piñón Richard Meier Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue Jean Nouvel Dominique Perrault Jean Nouvel Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue Lluís Clotet Herzog and deMeuron Torres Tur and Martínez Lapeña Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Arata Isozaki Gae Aulenti, conversion Josep Lluís Sert Arata Isozaki Carlos Ferrater and Bet Figueras Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós Josep Antoni Coderch Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue Frank Gehry Ortiz and León SOM Bosch/Tarrús/Bosch Ricardo Bofill Rafael Moneo and Manuel de Sola-Morales Rafael Moneo RCR Architects
M E COLO D G I E S PAS
VIA LAIETANA
RAMBL AS
GRAN VIA DE LES CO
PASSEIG DE SANT JOAN
PASSEIG DE GRACIA
RAMBLA DE CATALUNYA
AV ING UD AD IAG ON AL RTS CATALANES
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A UD G IN AV
A AN I ID ER M
RONDA DEL LITORAL
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Parc Guëll
Antoni Gaudí was commissioned to design Parc Guëll by the Count Eusebi Guëll, an aristocrat of the industrialized Catalunya of the beginnings of the century.
Antoni Gaudí 1900-14 Carrer d’Olot s/n, between carrer de Marianao and Carrer Larrard Metro: Hospital Militar - L3 Bus: 24 from Plaça de Catalunya Observations:
Parc Guëll is a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site
Parc Guëll was conceived in its beginning as a private neighborhood for the elite of Barcelona, a self sufficient property in one of the most beautiful parts of the city. Among the few constructions that we find in the park today, there is a house where Gaudi lived with his family. The house was not his design, but the work of Francesc Berenguer i Mestres, another Catalonian architect. The park was bought by the City Council in 1923 to transform it into a public space for the city. The park has one of the most atonishing views of Barcelona from the mountains that surround the city and it is a recreation point not only for tourists but also for the neighbors of the Guinardo neighborhood where the Park is located.
BCN As many of his projects, the Palau Guëll was commissioned to Antoni Gaudi by Eusebi Guëll i Bacigalupi and it was built in the heart of Barcelona.
Palau Guëll
The residence was a “complete work” where Gaudi designed from the building to the furniture, from the lighting to the grill work or the stained-glass windows. The building consist in six floors and due to the sophistication of the commission, Gaudi meticulously work with the best craftsmen and exquisite materials. This was the first project where Gaudi applied the technique of “trencadis”, cladding of the surfaces with broken and irregular mosaics.
1886-88
The house is organized around a central space which runs through all the floor and finish as a dome. This central space has a height of 17,50 mts (58ft. aprox) and from it the natural light filters through apertures of different sizes.
Antoni Gaudí Carrer Nou de la Rambla 3-5 Metro: Liceu - L3 Bus: 14, 59, and 91 Observations:
Palau Guëll is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
BCN
Casa Batlló
Commonly referred to as the House of Bones, Casa Batllo was commissioned by Josep Batllo i Casanovas to redesign his home, originally built from 1875-77.
Antoni Gaudí 1904-06
He had planned to tear down the building and replace it, but the architect, Antoni Gaudí, convinced him to redesign the existing building.
Passeig de Gràcia 43 Metro: Passeig de Gràcia - L2, L3 and L4 Bus 7, 16, 17, 22, 24, 28 Observations:
The Casa Batlló is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The design was made to compliment the neighboring house, Casa Amatller, which had just been completed by architect Puig i Cadafalch in 1898. Josep Maria Jujol helped with the ornamentation and colors. It is believed that the design of the roof is supposed to represent St. George, patron saint of Catalunya, slaying a dragon. The dragon's spine appears on the central staircase inside of the building. The building is currently used as a reception and banquet hall, in addition to being open to the public during the day. And like all tourist attractions, it has a gift shop.
BCN This apartment building, commissioned by Rosario Segimon and Pere Milà, is famous for its undulating stone masonry façade.
Casa Milà (also known as La Pedrera)
The apartments wrap around the corner façade and two interior, somewhat circular, courtyards. Despite the fact that it is situated on a corner lot, Gaudi wanted the building to have one continuous façade, and for no side to take precedence over the other sides. The building is unique in that it employs no straight lines in its design; it also stands on columns with a parking garage underneath it.
1906-1910
Josep Maria Jujol helped with the design of the wrought iron balconies. The roof features a bench similar to the one that Gaudi designed for the Parc Guell. The very devout Gaudi had intended to place a statue of the Virgin Mary on top of the building, but the Milà family would not allow it. This was the last building Antoni Gaudí designed before he began work on the Sagrada Familia Temple, which he would work on for the rest of his life. After his death, the Milà family got rid of the religious decorations on the inside and outside of the building. Today the building is still an apartment building, but the top floor and roof are open to the public and function as a museum of Gaudi's work with guided tours available.
Antoni Gaudí Passeig de Gràcia 92 Metro: Passeig de Gràcia - L2, L3 and L4 Bus 7, 16, 17, 22, 24, 28 Observations:
The Casa Batlló is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
BCN
Palau de la Música Catalana Lluís Domènech i Montaner 1905-1908 Carrer Palau de la Música, 4-6 Metro: Urquinaona - L1 and 4 Bus: 17, 19, 40 and 45 Observations:
The Palau de la Música is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
The design of the Palau is typical of Catalan modernisme, or, Art Nouveau, in that curves predominate over straight lines, dynamic shapes are preferred over static forms, and rich decoration that emphasizes floral and other organic motifs is used extensively. In contrast to many other buildings built in the modernisme style, however, it must also be said that the design of the Palau is eminently rational. It pays strict attention to function and makes full use of the most up-to-date materials and technologies available at the beginning of the 20th century. The Palau de la Música Catalana, full of light and of colour, is also today, a cultural asset that is open to the world, whose halls and areas host concerts of all genres and styles, cultural, social and business events, congresses, conferences, exhibitions, etc. For all these reasons, the Palau de la Música Catalana remains is a point of reference in the cultural and social life of the city of Barcelona.
BCN Casa Amattler was originally built as a home for chocolatier Antoni Amattler. The house is apart of the Illa de la Discordia (block of discord), which is a group of 3 houses that are considered Barcelona's best examples of Modernisme (together with Casa Lleo-Morera and Casa Batllo).
Casa Amatller Josep Puig i Cadafalch 1898 - 1900 Passeig de Gràcia 47
The entrance to Casa Amattler has a 0 on the ground, which marks the start of the European route of Modernism. The house was bought by Antoni Amatller to settle his family in the new, elegant Passeig de Gràcia, and he commisioned to Josep Puig i cadafalch the design of a new facade along with the interiors. The facade is influenced by religious Catalan Gothic and is primarily composed of ceramic tiles and an iron balcony. Josep Puig i Cadafalch designed several other buildings in Barcelona, including the Casa de les Punxes and the Casa Terrades. He was exiled to Paris in 1936 due to the Spanish Civil war and never allowed back to Spain
Metro: Passeig de Gràcia - L2, 3 and 4 Bus: 7, 16, 17, 22, 24, 28 Observations:
Privately owned; except for the ground floor, inaccessible to the public
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Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família Antoni Gaudí 1882 - current Carrer de Mallorca 401 Metro: Sagrada Família - L2 and 5 Bus: 19, 33, 34, 43, 44, 50, 51
The most famous of Antoni Gaudí's original works, the Expiatory Temple of the Sagrada Família was conceived to honor St. Joseph, the head of the Holy Family. In 1882, after the original architect, Francesco de Paula del Villar, resigned from the job after one year and after having built no more than a half perimeter wall, the head architect at the time handed the project to the 31-year-old Gaudí, although he had completed only one previous commission. From 1883 until his death in 1926, Antonio Gaudí worked on the project, constructing a sort of autobiography to be deciphered later,in the unfinished artifact, as the construction of the Sagrada Família unfolded in the generations that followed him. The first portion of the Temple to be built was erected tall to encourage contributions. Further construction proceeded as the money allowed. Romanesque, Gothic, and Baroque elements are all found on the Nativity Façade, the only one constructed during Gaudí's life. Plaster casts directly composed from live subject studies were used by modernista sculptors of that time to create the 'scenographic' statuary telling the story of Jesus' birth on the eastern façade. The Passion Façade was completed between 1954 and 1977 on the western face by sculptor Joan Subirachs, who was licensed to work from a Gaudí drawing of 1917. The Glory Façade, which tells the story of Jesus' Ascension, was intentionally left for others to design, having been only partially modeled by Gaudí. The construction of walls and the 170 meter tower that enclosed the chapel and sacristy have yet to be undertaken. Computer-aided study of Gaudí's geometric designs is advancing the Sagrada Família towards an original construction, originally intended as an evolution of Gothic architecture through rationalized artistic plasticity of form. As the centuries pass, the Sagrada Família carries on progressively thicker, taller and more complete.
BCN With donation from Pau Gil on January 15, 1902, the hospital entered its nearly thirty years of construction. It was directed by Lluís Domènech i Muntaner and was completed by his son in 1929.
Hospital de Sant Pau
There are 48 sections, all decorated with mosaics, sculptures and murals, separated by gardens and connected by underground tunnels. The reception area was decorated by artist and sculptor Pablo Gargallo. The hospital was fully functional by 1930. Additional sections were completed over subsequent decades.
Carrer de Sant Antoni Maria Claret 167
The Pabellón de la Merced area won a decorative arts award in 1980.
Lluís Domènech i Montaner 1901 - 1930 Metro: Hospital de Sant Pau - L5 Bus: 15, 19, 20, 45, 47, 50, 51, 117, 192, B22 Observations:
The Hospital de Sant Pau is a UNESCO World Heritage Site
BCN
Cementiri d’Igualada Enric Miralles and Carme Pinós 1984-competition 1985/94-completion
“The cemetery works as a place” -Enric Miralles The Igualada Cemetery was product of a competition organized by the City of Igualada in 1984. Enric Miralles and his former partner, Carme Pinós, were selected the winners of the competition.
Carrer dels Paisos Baixos s/n; Igualada Train: Igualada, FGC R6 from Plaça de Catalunya Observations:
When you get to Igualada, ask for the new cemetery (cementiri nou).
The Cemetery is located on the edge of the city, in an industrial area, and its lines and contours are extremely related to the topography of the site, fusing with its edges and descending into the earth,a metaphor that Miralles and Pinós used to explain the procession from life to death. The entire project is a descent into the earth, a symbolic journey into the place of final resting. As mourners come to visit their lost friends and relatives, they too descend into the city of the dead. Enric Miralles, who died in 2000 at the age of 45, is buried here.
BCN Previously known as the Southwest Cemetery, it was inaugurated in 1883 following a project by Leandro Albareda.
Cementiri de Montjuic
Alhough the cemetery may look like a series of buildings with windows, inside each window is one or more coffins. The cemetery was built in response to economic and population grown that the Poblenou Cemetery could not contain.
1883
This cemetery was built because the newly powerful bourgeoisie wanted tombs that had the same standing as their homes. Of the 152,327 resting places, this cemetery contains many of Barcelona's rich and celebrated, including Lluís Companys and his predecessor as President of Catalonia Francesc Macià, as well as artist Joan Miró, dancer Carmen Amaya and poet/priest Jacint Verdaguer.
Leandro Albareda C/Mare de Deu del Port, 54-58 Bus: 38
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Barcelona Pavillion Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe 1929 (original) 1986 rebuilt Av. Marquès de Comillas, s/n Metro: Espanya - L1 and 3 Bus 13 and 50 to Plaça d'Espanya observations:
Technically this building should be called the German Pavilion in Barcelona since it was constructed to represent that country at the International Exposition of 1929.
Using horizontal and vertical planes, the interior spaces are loosely connected, seemingly without any order as if pausing for one moment in time where form is content. Tectonics are disregarded. The walls, for example, do not carry any load, and give the impression of being disorganized, touching each other "by chance." These apparently random walls are used to enforce diagonal views, and block axial views, making systematic comprehension of space impossible. As the flowing space is blurred, each interior is focused on a particular exterior. Since there is no real enclosure, the transitions between interior and exterior are gradual, changing the spatial density and limiting views within each space.
BCN The Caixa Forum is a museum built in and adjacent to an old, unused factory designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Arata Isozaki designed the adaptation of Cadalfach’s factory and a new entrance to the existing building. He created a different environment along the main street for the entrance to the Caixa Forum. An entrance court is clad in white travertine, with sleek benches and pool of water made with the same material to create uniformity. The forum is a 3000 sq m area distributed in 3 spaces. It also has an auditorium that can seat 350 people. There are permanent and temporary exhibits in different spaces. The new addition seems to be inspired by Mies’s Barcelona Pavilion which is opposite the Forum.
Caixa Forum Barcelona
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya(MNAC) is museum that embraces all kinds of the art. It includes world's one of the most important and famous pieces of Catalan art from Romanesque period.
Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya
The Palau Nacional home of the MNAC, is symbolic building of the 1929 International Exhibition and interior of the palace was remodeled by Italian Architect Gae Aulenti. The building is situated on Montjuic and the front steps of the museum provide a spectacular view of the city of Barcelona.
1929
Arata Isozaki, Josep Puig i Cadafalch 2002 Metro: Espanya - L1 and 3
Enric Català and Pere Cendoya; Renovation: Gae Aulenti Parc de Montjuïc s/n Metro: Espanya - L1 and 3 observations:
Closed Mondays
BCN
Fundació Joan Miró Josep Lluís Sert 1974 Parc de Montjuïc s/n Metro: Espanya - L1 and 3 Bus: 50, 55 and 193 Funicular de Montjuïc
This hilltop museum, with its crenelated profile of skylights, was designed by Josep Lluís Sert, who had earlier designed a house and studio in Mallorca for his friend Joan Miró. Sert fled Spain and moved to the United States after the Spanish Civil War, where he would become dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and would establish a successful firm based in Boston. Here, Sert returns to Catalunya, and the heaviness of his American work of the same period is replaced with a crisp, gleaming Mediterranean architecture of white concrete and a traditional central courtyard. At the Fundació Miró, Sert would achieve one of his most convincing buildings: a locally sensitive and specific project that remains faithful to the unabashedly Modern (with a capital M) architecture to which he had dedicated his youth, and for which he ultimately found himself forced to renounce his Catalonian home.
BCN The Palau Sant Jordi is a sports complex designed by Japanese architect, Arata Isozaki, in Barcelona, Spain.
Palau Sant Jordi
The stadium seats 17,000 people and was constructed for the gymnastics portion of the 1992 Olympic games. The venue's size enables it to host concerts and theatrical performances as well as continuing to host sporting events. Outside the arena's main entrance there are a series of sculptures designed by Isozaki's wife, Aiko Miyawaki.
1990
Not only is the Palau Sant Jordi considered an architectural triumph for the city of Barcelona, but the construction of the structure successfully employed a technique used for the first time in Europe and marked the building as an engineering feat as well.
Arata Isozaki Passeig OlĂmpic 5-7 Metro: Espanya - L1 and 3 Bus: 50, 55 and 193 Funicular de MontjuĂŻc Observations:
The Palau Sant Jordi sits upon the Montjuic Mountain which pro vides visitors with a great, panoramic view of Barcelona and the Mediterranean Sea.
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Jardí Botànic de Barcelona Carlos Ferrater and Bet Figueras 1999 Carrer Dr. Font I Quer 2 Metro: Espanya - L1 and 3 Bus: 50, 55 and 193 Funicular de Montjuïc
Anella Olímpica 1992 Metro: Espanya - L1 and 3 Bus: 50, 55 and 193 Funicular de Montjuïc
This botanical garden was created on the site of an old solid waste landfill in order to reclaim the land. The focus of this botanical garden was on plants of the Mediterranean climates of the world. The site was developed based off a triangular grid system which can be most easily seen in the retaining walls located all over the site. This system marries the natural topography, required by each climate region, with the pathways that connect all of these regions.
The Olympic area for the 1992 games in Barcelona contained numerous sporting arenas that served many different venues contained within the Anella Olímpica, or Olympic Ring. This zone hosted the majority of the venues for the 1992 Olympic Games. A large telecommunications tower by Santiago Calatrava sits in the middle of the ring and is flanked by stadiums. The Palau Sant Jordi sports hall sits to the east of the tower and the primary stadium to the left of that. The main stadium, the Estadi Olimpic Lluís Companys, was originally built in 1927 for the 1929 Expo and for its bid for the 1936 Olympic games. The stadium was rebuilt in 1989 to accommodate the bid for 1992 games. The stadium can hold 55,926 people normally, but was expanded for the Olympic Games to hold 70,000 people.
BCN This apartment building in the Barceloneta neighborhood is an investigation about the corner and the maximizing of light and sun in a site next to the sea. When it was built, the building became part of the search of Catalan architects to develop a modern architecture for the country after the Civil War.
Edifici d’Habitatges Josep Antoni Coderch i de Sentmenat 1951-53 Passeig Joan de Borbó 43 Metro: Barceloneta - L4
The building has a first floor occupied by commercial stores and seven floors for apartments.
Observations:
Private apartments: building can only be seen from the outside.
The new building for Gas natural of Barcelona is located in the sea shore, close to the Olympic area.
Edificio Gas Natural
As a living creature that reacts to external impulses, the new building of the company Gas Natural, develops and extends addressing the different conditions of the program and the complex environment.
999-2008
The aim is to reconcile several objectives: to create an urban landmark in the skyline of Barcelona, to set up a dialogue with the low-rise houses of the neighbourhood and to generate quality public spaces. (EMBT - Conceptual Memory)
EMBT - Enric Miralles and BenedettaTagliabue Plaça del Gas 1, Barcelona Metro: Ciutadella/Vila Olimpica - L4 Bus: 10, 36, 45, 57, 59, 71, 92 and 157
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Torre Mapfre Iñigo Ortiz y Enrique de León 1992
This mixed-use tower was built for the Olympic Village of the 1992 Barcelona Games. The angled glazing creates an ever-changing pattern of reflections -- those stuck in traffic at the tower’s base can momentarily glimpse the Mediterranean Sea in the reflections of the Mapfre Tower’s Facade.
Carrer de la Marina 18 Metro: Ciutadella/Vila Olimpica - L4
Torre Hotel Arts Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill 1992 Carrer de la Marina 19 Metro: Ciutadella/Vila Olimpica - L4
The Hotel Arts, by the Chicago office of Skidmore Owings Merrill Architects, is located on the shores of the Mediterranean in the former Olympic Village. The 1,176,000 sq ft multi-use, high rise building is home to a 465-room five-star Ritz Carlton hotel, apartment residences, a village-like retail centre, and office facilities. The structure of the building's exterior is expressed on a grid of every four storeys by white painted steelwork that rises up all 153 meters of the building. The grided design gives the building a "lighter" feel than its neighboring building. With the Moda Shopping Port Olimpic and the Manna Village neighboring the site which is placed in the heart of Barcelona, the density of the surrounding area brings many people to the building.
BCN Designed for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, the fish sculpture marks an important moment in Frank Gehry's career, as it was the first time Gehry’s firm had ever used CAD/digital design software. Throughout Gehry's career, the fish motif has escalated almost to the level of a trademark.
Fish Sculpture Frank Gehry 1992 Metro: Ciutadella/Vila Olimpica - L4
This Sculpture was also important in the fact that it was the first public project Gehry ever took on. The sculpture has remained a landmark of its surroundings and continues to be recognizable the world over today.
The building is located within a row of residential buildings and provides an opening to the newly created public square within the block. The entrance is created by a suspended structure between two apartment buildings creating a gateway into the courtyard. Inside the public square is a single story building that wraps around two sides of the courtyard providing reading rooms for the library. The fully glazed walls are covered by a series of vertical blades forming a walkway that runs between them. The library is a branch of the Biblioteques de Barcelona.
Biblioteca de Sant Antoni RCR: Aranda Pigem Vilalta 2007 Carrer del Comte Borrell 44-46 Metro: Sant Antoni - L2
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Mercat de Santa Caterina EMBT - Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue 2005 Avinguda de Francesc Camb贸 16 Metro: Jaume I -L4 Observations: The market is open Mon.-Sat.. The project also includes housing for senior citizens.
The market was first built in 1948. Previous to that the space had been occupied by a small convent dating back to 1844-1848. The convent is still preserved in the market and serves as a sight seeing area for tourists. Also the market houses a few senior citizens, and a 1250 underground car park. The objective of the architects was to not merge old and new into a unified entity. The undulating roof structure is made of steel arches with a steel and timber frame. The roof is tilled with exuberant colors that can be viewed from adjacent apartment buildings while the inside is made of non-orthogonal slats of wood that further enhances the liveliness of the interior space of the market. The market is a nucleus for its surrounding area, a transition area to the community. It is often referred to as a city within a city, serving as a lively renovation and addition to the city
BCN This building is characterized by an assembly of pure geometric forms and curves and the white façade heightens the play of theses forms. According to Richard Meier: "It seemed to me that the best approach would be to provide different kinds of exhibition or gallery spaces for the Museum, rather than a repetitive system of spaces, since the artworks to be shown would have different scales at different times - sometimes large, sometimes small, sometimes needing light, sometimes needing no light. So we developed a series of spaces that could accommodate all kinds of activities and exhibitions".
The CCCB is Spain's largest cultural center and was designed by Viaplana and Piñon. It hosts exhibits of renowned artists as well as seminars, open forums and workshops related to the art and culture of the city. The CCCB building was originally an almshouse, but today all that stands of the original structure is the façade and part of the courtyard. The rest of the building was designed in stark contrast to the original structure, consisting of a glass and steel façade on the exterior and a modern interior design.
MACBA -Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Barcelona Richard Meier 1996 Plaça dels Àngels 1 Metro: Catalunya - L3 Observations:
The Plaza is the main hub for skateboarders, who meet there constantly.
CCCB - Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona Albert Viaplana and Helio Piñon 1802 Original building 1994 Renewal Carrer de Montalegre 5 Metro: Universitat - L1 and L2 or Catalunya - L1 and L3
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L’illa Diagonal Rafael Moneo - Manuel de Solà-Morales 1986-1993 Avinguda Diagonal 557 Metro: Maria Cristina - L3 Bus: 6, 7, 30, 33, 34, 66, 67, 68 and Tomb Bus Tram: L'illa - T1,2,3
The Diagonal Building takes up the theme of repetition and rationalism characteristic of skyscrapers and very tall buildings, and applies it to a horizontal development more appropriate to the context of the site. The avenue is formalized with a structure like an urban center, conferred by the presence of a structure on a very grand scale, strong in image and evocation. The functioning of the Diagonal block has been approached as a center of integrated services: stores, shops, food market, offices, hotel, amusements, restaurants, conference facility, gardens, and car park.The pavement of the Diagonal has been tripled in surface area and height in order to accommodate all of the uses of one of the city's major centers of activity. The rigorous aspect of the metropolitan façade along the Diagonal contrasts with the cheerful character of the rear façade which looks onto the peaceful, sunny interior park. The rationalism which dominates all of the project's architectonic language finds a sensitive aesthetic value in the many details and nuances, elements which create real interest on the small scale, close to the user and visitor.
BCN The new auditorium for the Barcelona Auditorium Consortium sits near the edge of Barcelona's nineteenth-century grid and is near the Plaça de les Glòries.
L’Auditori
Moneo created the building to be an isolated, self-sufficient building containing two concert halls, a museum of music, and a library of musical studies. All these program elements are within a concrete grid, stainless steel panel in-filled longitudinal structure.
1990 - 1999
Inside this apparently solid volume is a giant void that provides public space and is the center of the building's life. L'Auditori has become a focus of musical life in Barcelona since its completion.
Rafael Moneo Carrer de Lepant 150 Metro: Marina - L1 or Monumental - L2 Bus: 6, 7, 10, 56, 62, B21, B25 Tram: Auditori/Teatre Nacional stop - T4
BCN
Torre Agbar Jean Nouvel Ateliers - b720 1999 - 2005 Avinguda Diagonal 211 Metro: Glòries - L1 Observations:
The buidling houses the water company of Barcelona: Ag (aguas) bar (Barcelona)
Of its 38 floors, it includes offices, installations, a cafeteria, a dome, an auditorium, parking, and four separate floors for beautiful open views of the city. It's made of two oval cylinders, covered by a glass and steel dome. Inspired by Gaudi's architectural legacy, Jean Nouvel called it a "distant echo of old Catalan obsessions, carried on the winds that blow in from Montserrat." The building is pointing toward the sky, seemingly shooting from the ground like a geyser, and recreating the shape of the rock formations in Barcelona. It aimed to conserve energy and be a green building, hoping to minimize any contamination. In reality, it has 4500 windows for natural ventilation and most of its lighting, reducing energy costs. In addition to that, coolant gases without CFC's are used to avoid damaging the ozone layer, and phreatic water is used for cleaning in order to save water.
BCN Hotel Habitat Sky is a beacon for the city of Barcelona. Rising 115 meters it gives off light day and night. The exterior is clad in thick sheets of aluminum creating intense but ever-changing reflections of the sun.
Hotel Habitat Sky Dominique Perrault 2008 Carrer Pere IV and Avinguda Diagonal
The building composed of three rectangles, one of which forms the horizontal base and two of which appear as planes sliding together to form the tower. The structure is set at and diagonal to the traditional layout of the city, an especially visible aspect at night.
Metro: Selva de Mar - L4 Tram: FluviĂ or Selva de Mar - T4
BCN
Parc Central del Poblenou Jean Nouvel Ateliers 2001 - 2004 Avinguda Diagonal and Carrer d'Espronceda Metro: Selva de Mar - L4 Tram: FluviĂ or Selva de Mar - T4
The Parc Central del Poblenou, designed by Jean Nouvel, is a sustainable park that is intended to be used by the entire community, as a reference point in the dense urban setting through a natural, recreational and ornamental green space. The triangle-shaped park contains three separate gardens. The biggest garden contains a large man-made forest adjacent to a ramp of volcanic soil. In the square garden, the woodland surrounds an old factory. In the third garden, the most prominent feature is a crater that carries the visitor through a spiral pathway. Although the park itself is a very open space, the perimeter of the park is barricaded with varies types of walls. Different types of fixtures, furniture and sculptures were placed to enhance spatial and visual experiences.
BCN Completed in 2002, the Parc Diagnonal Mar is a 35-acre park located in a former industrial district and centered around Barcelona's Avenue Diagonal.
Parc Diagonal Mar
This urban redevelopment project, designed by Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue, was inspired by the hosting of the Universal Forum of Cultures held on the site in 2004. The event gave the city of Barcelona the opportunity to revitalize parts of the city that were no longer being utilized and going to waste. Hines, the developer, invested 36 million Euros in this award winning park which is Barcelona's third largest park. It is a collection of three lakes, pedestrian walkways, bike and skating paths, a dog walk park, a children's park and multiple water works.
1997 - 2002
EMBT - Enric Miralles and Benedetta Tagliabue Avinguda Diagonal and Carrer de Josep Pla Metro: Selva de Mar - L4 Tram: FluviĂ or Selva de Mar - T4
BCN
Illa de la Llum Lluís Collet and Ignacio Aparicio 2005 Passeig de Garcia Fària 73 Metro: Maresme/Forum or Selva de Mar - L4 Tram: Fluvià or Selva de Mar - T4 Observations: Private housing, not open to public.
Colector Solar y Promenade: Forum 2004 Torres Tur and Martínez Lapeña 2004
This housing complex is part of a project to connect the city to the sea along Diagonal Mar. Illa de la Llum was built in what was at the time an industrial area that was recovering from decline. After it was built, it improved the standard of life of the neighborhood. The housing has aluminum shutters that cover the porches, which contributes to a constantly changing façade. The 4-floor building includes 2 public shops and the communal area consists of gardens, playground, and swimming pool.
In 2004, Barcelona hosted "Forum 2004," a 141-day-long cultural celebration to benefit the city. Over $3.6 billion was spent on new urban infrastructure, including a vast solar energy panel. A broad avenue was extended to the sea to allow the public to reach the beach, which had previously been blocked by industrial buildings.
Plaça del Forum Metro: Maresme/Forum - L4 Tram: Forum - T4 Bus: 7, 36, 41, 43, 141 Observations:
to maximize solar exposure throughout the year, the panels faces south at a 35° angle.
The forum esplanade is laid out like an open hand in plan view. The solar collector is located on its first finger, and is a huge sculptural pavilion. It is comprised of four concrete supports with a plane of photovoltaic cells above. It offers a nice place of shade on its otherwise large, empty and mostly hot area. Also, it allows for excellent sea views.
BCN Faced with the task of creating an emblematic building at the end of the Avinguda Diagonal, Herzog & deMeuron eschew formal exuberance, and create a hermetic, mysterious, and flat object.The triangular Forum building -- centerpiece of the 2004 Forum Barcelona uses jagged strips of mirrors to break up the heavy mass of the building. Skylights puncture through the building and the triangular mass cantelievers out over the base to establish a connection between interior and exterior.
Edificio Forum Herzog & De Meuron 2000 - 2004 Plaรงa de Llevant s/n Metro: Maresme/Forum - L4 Tram: Forum - T4 Bus: 7, 36, 41, 43, 141 Observations:
Houses an 3200 seat auditorium and a 5000 m2 (54000 ft2) exhibition hall.
BCN
Walden 7 Ricardo Bofill Taller de Arquitectura 1970-1975 Carrer Reial 107, Sant Just Desvern Tram: Walden - T3 Observations:
see www.walden7.com
Walden 7 was designed as an ideal model for a small city. Walden 7 seeks to solve the lack of community, collective activity, and public space that are absent in many of today's cities. The facade of Walden 7 appears monumental and strong, somewhat bearing the appearance of a medieval fortification. The facade surrounds 4 main patios and is connected through various bridges and passageways. The use of color assists in defining these areas, with the facade being red, patios being blue, and balconies and balconies and bridges being violet and mustard. Nearly every apartment in Walden 7 has a view of both the outside world and one of the patios. Swimming pools are also present on some of the patios.
BCN Designed by the team of Girona architects Jordi Bosch Genover, Joan Tarrús Galter and Manel Bosch Aragó, the building has been conceived as both a concert hall and a conference centre.
Auditori de Girona
The most striking feature of this north-facing building is the geometrically strict and visually powerful impact of its dimensions. The materials used constitute another notable characteristic: white concrete, glass curtain-walls and stainless-steel mesh blinds to give a finish to the reception areas, and surfaces made up of sanded stainless-steel plates and extensions of wood for the conference rooms inside the building. The structure of the building has been designed in such a way as to complement the Girona Trade Fair Centre, which has a net exhibition area of 7,815 m². The two facilities are connected by an overhead passageway, so that it is possible to use the two buildings in a simultaneous and complementary fashion.
Passeig de la Devesa 35, Girona
Built over the span of ten centuries, the Cathedral of Girona was built in numerous stages of completion and transformation, embodying several different styles and changes in the overall vision of the design.
Catedral de Girona
Bishop Pere Roger began the construction of the Romanesque cathedral in 1015. Construction of the cloisters and Romanesque tower (Charlemagne's tower) were carried out during the years 12th century. In 1312, a new gothic addition was begun because the Romanesque temple had become too small. Pere Sacoma directed the design and construction of the Apostles' door in 1370. In 1417, Guillem Bofill convinced Bishop Dalamau de Mur and the Cathedral Chapter to construct the Gothic nave, reaching completion in 1570. The new design consisted of the widest Gothic nave in the world at 23m/75ft and one of the largest vaulted spaces in Gothic architecture at 50m/165ft long and 43m/112ft high. During the 17th century, the bell tower and Baroque stairway were constructed under bishop fra Miguel Pontich's time. The construction of the Baroque façade and bell tower were undertaken during the 18th century. From 1961-1975 several finishing touches are made to the façade and Apostles' door. Today, the cathedral also houses a few museums with an extensive collection of manuscripts, tapestries, and art ranging in time from the pre-romanesque period to the early 20th century.
Jordi Bosch Genover, Joan Tarrús Galter and Manel Bosch Aragó Bus: Line 11
1312 - Pere Sacoma 1416 - Guillem Bofill and Antoni Canet Plaça de la Catedral s/n, Girona observations:
The Cathedral has the widest Gothic nave in the world: 22,98 mts
2009 SPAIN/PORTUGAL SUMMER PROGRAM COURSE ROSTER
Matthew Abbott is a 3rd-year BArch student from Cleveland, Ohio. He plays the Alto, Baritone, and Bass Saxophone and loves jazz. He is an Eagle Scout, loves the outdoors, and to travel as much as possible.
Ayesha Akhtar is a 3rd-year BArch student. She was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and since then she has lived in 5 cities in 3 countries. She enjoys cricket, travelling, painting and learning about different cultures. This will be her first time visiting Europe.
Lulu al Awadhi is a 3rd-year BArch student. She is a Kuwaiti from Kuwait living in America. She loves architecture and art just as much as she loves food and color. She also really likes the color duck blue.
Julie Alkhovsky is a 1st-year BArch student. Her full name is Julie Zina Alkhovsky, and she comes from a Russian-Jewish family. She has played tennis (competitively and for fun) and the piano almost all of her life. She loves to draw, and is allergic to many things around her.
Daniel Aronberg is a 2nd-year BArch student. He was born and grew up in St. Louis, MO. He attended University City High School where he participated in athletics.
Aric Austermann is a 3rd-year BArch student attending Illinois Institute of Technology as a Camras Scholar. He has been interested in architecture for his entire life and has worked steadfastly towards achieving his goal of designing the world's tallest building.
Eric Cheng is a 3rd year architecture student. He likes straight lines, triangles, the color red, the color black, film cameras, antique mopeds and eating. Eric Cheng is from Hong Kong.
Daniel Ciorba s a 1st year P3 MArch student born in Timisoara, Romania and raised in Portland, OR. He majored in Urban Planning at the University of Washington in Seattle and is a sports nut. He plasn to move back to the Portland area after graduation. He loves the outdoors, having long talks about life, and singing whatever song is playing on his iPod.
Matt Devendorf is a 2nd-year BArch student. At an early age, Matt developed a passion for creating and building things. However, it was not until later that he realized that this was the foundation for a greater passion: architecture. Ever since, he has been on a quest to achieve architectural euphoria. He also enjoys writing, drawing, painting, and playing the guitar.
Stacy Economy s a 2nd-year BArch and structural engineering student from Arlington Heights, IL. She is excited to study Spanish architecture firsthand.
Jacob Ernst is a 3rd-year BArch student raised in Casper, Wyoming before attending IIT. He enjoys spending time outdoors and searching for the world's greatest food.
Elaine Erwin is a 1st-year BArch student. She is from Portland, Oregon and loves IIT and everything Chicago has to offer. She also enjoys lacrosse, thrift shopping, spending time with her friends, recycling, volunteering, playing board games, listening to music (mostly alternative-indie-electronica) and photography.
Nicole Firnbach is a 3rd-year BArch and Structural Engineering student from Elk Grove Village, Her hobbies are drawing (since age 5), gymnastics (since age 2), cheerleading (since age 12).
Eun Kim is a 1st year BArch student.
Joseph Francis Klimek is a 3rd-year BArch student and is here for your entertainment. If there's a fork in the road, he’ll take it. The east coast had been his habitat for 26 years until he set out to discover the fully explored pavement of the Windy City where nobody goes anymore because it's too crowded. He transferred to IIT from Wake Tech Community College in Raleigh, NC. Tuition holds him hostage from enjoying too much of the Chicago Way. Daniel Medrano is an architecture/engineering student pursuing a BArch and a Master's degree in Structural Engineering. His goal is to become an architect and an engineer so that he can incorporate his musical talent and his mathematical ability to design concert halls and theatres. He is proud of his Spanish/Italian heritage. He was born in Argentina, became a citizen of Canada and is a resident of the United States where he has lived with his family for the past eleven years. Justin Miller is a 3rd-year BArch student. He grew up in West Brooklyn, IL. To find this town, drive around for three hours with your eyes closed, and turn left. It is absolute nowhere. He currently plays in multiple death metal bands as a guitarist and vocalist. He is the chairman of the Student Sustainability Committee. He plans to work for various firms, create his own firm, and eventually take over the world. Stacy Morton is a 3rd-year BArch student. She is from the northern suburbs of Chicago. Since she was ten, she has been performing the double bass in orchestras around the world. At IIT, she serves as Vice President of Student Life and started the Student Sustainability Committee, also known as Gangreen. She is also a Leadership Academy Scholar.
Danny Mui is a 2nd-year BArch student. He was born and raised in Chicago. A graduate of Lane Tech, he won the 2007 Newhouse Competition.
Matt Renfree is a 1st-year BArch student and plans to focus on Sustainable Building and Urban Planning. He is currently also doing minor work in both Graphic and Industrial Design, and rapidly expanding his work in photography. Outside of the studio, Matt enjoys exploring every inch of the city, and photograpghing the soon to be lost relics of the architectural past.
Archit Sawnhey is a 2nd-year BArch student from India. He plans to go to Europe after his education. He has always wanted to pursue a career as an Architect. He loves going out and walking through downtown Chicago, and always ends up learning something new.
Bryan Slonski is a 4th-year BArch student. He was raised in the Chicagoland area and has done some traveling, but he still has a lot to see.
Samantha Spencer is a 2nd-year BArch student and is originally from St. Louis, MO. Her love for architecture began with the help of her father, who was a bricklayer. Growing up in an environment filled with construction and architecture, she developed an interest. She specifically is interested in sustainability and urban planning.
Tyler Stellwag is a 3rd-year BArch student. Born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, he is artistic, athletic, and shy.
Mark Swingler is a 3rd-year BArch student, born in Peoria, IL. He has been involved in sports, wind symphony, marching band, jazz band, and pep band. IIT has allowed him to unleash his creative side in learning and applying both traditional and modern skills in the design of architecture.
Ben Tolsky is a 1st year P3 MArch student. He grew up in Buffalo Grove, IL and now lives in Lincoln Park. He graduated from the University of Illinois, where he studied math and philosophy. He plays underwater hockey and is a diehard Cubs fan.
Teodora Vasilev is a 3rd-year BArch student. She was Born in Bulgaria in the year of Chernobyl, and moved to the United States fourteen years later. She has lived in Chicago for 9 years, and absolutely loves it. 99% of her time is consumed with school. The rest of her time breaks down as follows: .4% sleeping, .05% commuting, .55% other (work, going out, etc.). When she’s not in school she enjoys traveling, adventures, spending time with her family, reading books, and being outside. Yu Zhang (Grace) is a 1st-year BArch student from Shanghai. She loves to travel and record the inspiring things in her notebook. She also likes meeting people from all around the world and communicating with them in their own languages. This will be her first independent visit to Europe. ¥Vamos!
COURSE INSTRUCTORS
Adjunct Assistant Professor Romina Canna received her Architecture degree from the National University of Rosario, Argentina (UNR). She is currently a Ph.D Candidate in Urbanism at the Barcelona Superior Technical Architecture School (ETSAB) of the Polytechnic University of Catalunya, Spain (UPC). She has worked in Chicago, Rosario and Barcelona. She has also maintained her own private practice, has taught urbanism at the UNR, and helped develop a distance-learning doctoral program for the UPC. Her writing has been published in the magazine MatĂŠricos PerifĂŠricos, and in the book El Habitar. She is co-principal of R+D Studio.
Studio Assistant Professor David Goodman graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science in History of Architecture and Urbanism and a Bachelor of Arts in Government, and later attended the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, where he received a Masters Degree in Architecture. He has worked in the office of Rafael Moneo in Madrid, Spain, and in several offices in Chicago. He has also taught architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, the Boston Architectural College, and at the Career Discovery program at Harvard. His work has appeared in the journal Log, and in the anthology Chicago Architecture: Histories, Revisions, Alternatives. He is a licensed architect in the State of Illinois. He is co-principal of R+D Studio.
Copyright 2009 Illinois Institute of Technology College of Architecture