FILMOTECA DE CATALUNYA JOSEP LLUIS MATEO Location: Barcelona Date completed: 2011
The filmoteca de Catalunya is arranged in such a way that the cinema screens are below ground and the services such as the archives and galleries are incorporated in a building above ground. It is situated in a plaza in the neighbourhood “The Raval� in Barcelona. The architect aimed to open up the plaza to the public and this is why he chose to reduce the impact of the building by placing areas that dont need light below ground level.
South facade
Lateral southeast faรงade
Interior Screening Room
SITE This site is said to have been a Medieval Lagoon, so the building reflects it’s historical context by appearing to float like a ship. The building fits in to its current context by blending with the existing buildings by its unfinised façade. It is situated in a district of Barcelona that is dense and therefore it was important to leave the plaza as open as possible, creating another public space.
Sketch of lagoon that previously =
Immediate Context Plan. Scale 1:1000
Nolli Context Plan
Immediate Context Nolli Plan
FUNCTIONS The brief brings together in a single building functions that were previously housed separately: the library, the archive and the two cinemas, along with administrative and other functions. The building also brought new uses to the plaza by freeing it up so it is possible to host large scale outdoor events. It is designed to allow the public to move freely in and out of the building, like a porch open to the street. In the way that the volume dissolves at it’s edges it is even more so incorporated into its surroundings.
Arrangement of above ground building
Plans & Section showing separation of cinema and office levels. Doubleheight cinema rooms.
CIRCULATION AND LAYOUT The space is organized around two movements: the descent into the darkness of the cinemas -with the reflection of the spectators-, and the ascent towards the light, towards the places of work. Public access is increased by the various ways of descending to the cinema level, namely stairs, lifts and escalators. The two cinema screens open on to one single central corridor. This separates the two acting like an audio buffer.
Circulation routes from the plaza to the cinema screens
Diagram illustrating how geometry of building responds to site
Sketches of access and views to building. Evokes feelings of “floating ship�, reminiscent of lagoon
FOURTH CORNER
Interest lies in shorter facades and corners. The corner with Carrer St Pau and the other at the end of Carrer Josep Oriole. This one covers the street with huge projection like a room with a ceiling. The fourth corner creates a “head� where films could be screened in summer.
Montage illustrating 4th corner
MATERIALS & ENVELOPE
The film theatre is a continuation of the building line of the street, blending in with its setting. The rough concrete reflects the crumbling plaster of the neighbouring streets. To accentuate this “unfinished” appearance, the beams extend to the exterior with their tensioning cables. Mateo said that his building sets out to express itself as pure structure—no cladding, no finishes. The bare concrete beams-cum-walls that form the façades are very varied.
Sketches of exterior skin of building showing bare concrete
Skylight above atrium
Concrete faรงade
View from interior
MATERIALS & ENVELOPE
An addition to the faรงade is the metal screening used to filter both the light from outside and the views as seen from the inside. They are designed in an Arabic style and when moved, they vary the degree of opaqueness and therefore sense of enclosure of the space. They give a sense of rhythm to the skin of the building. Another way light is manipulated is through the glass skylights that illuminate the central atrium spaces. These act as courtyards breaking up the warehouse-like volume.
Metal Screening detail, Geometric forms
Metal Screening detail
STRUCTURE
In order to create the large open plan layout the building is structured with loadbearing concrete walls and beams that span the width. These beams are supported by ties resulting pillar free spaces. On the office levels, interior walls separate different areas. The structure is meant to be obvious to the observer, as the principal structure material is left exposed, concrete. There are no false ceiling, giving the interior atmosphere a tectonic and slightly primitive feel.
Structural stress diagrams
Section showing structural beams
Detail of cross beams and the iron structure supporting the metal blinds
CONCEPTUAL MODEL
The model shows the main concept that influenced the form of the cinema. The underground cinema and the open plaza above. The constrast between the lightness of the office spaces and the darkness of the screening rooms is shown in the colour of card used. The form of the building resembles both an industrial warehouse and a floating ship.
Detail of light from skylights
Constrast of light and dark spaces
Both parts of the model, underground cinema and plaza
Relationship between building and plaza