Library Gabriel García Márquez in Barcelona, Spain | SUMA architecture
Library Gabriel García Márquez in Barcelona, Spain | SUMA architects
Library Gabriel García Márquez in Barcelona, Spain | SUMA architects
This is a unique district library, located in a dense urban node of the city of Barcelona, which is presented as a sculptural volume inspired by stacked blocks of books and seated on a square slightly elevated above the street and whose large gaps and voids dialogue with the environment.
The access arcade extends the pedestrian and cultural axis of the neighborhood and connects with the interior. The facility has 4,294 m2 distributed over 5 floors, with a central courtyard that connects all of them and brings natural light into the heart of the building. This large void also acts as a solar chimney, a form of passive design particularly effective in hot and humid environments, which absorbs solar radiation by heating the air inside, which rises and is ventilated at the top, creating air circulation as a method of natural ventilation.
The architectural program is intensified and dynamic as it acts as a real social condenser, which has captured and intensified situations that encourage the experience of information, exchange and production of knowledge, until, through the accumulation of the various ecosystems, the public library is configured as a welcoming space where everyone can find their place, their corner.
The structure is a hybrid of wood and steel, maximizing structural efficiency and architectural performance. Its configuration is based on three cores connected by lattice girders, with an unusual volume of exposed wood and hidden joints. The structure defines and qualifies the space without apparent tectonic stresses and integrates with the program, envelope and furnishings of each library ecosystem. The result is a great work of joinery, as warm and light as it is permeable and luminous.
Thus, the wooden structure of the Gabriel García Márquez library not only solves the transfer of vertical loads to the foundations, but also meets and responds to the requirements of the functional program, the insertion of natural light in all spaces, the vector of visual orientation, the haptic factor and several other issues that make this building an ecosystemic structure.
The building is part of a new production and consumption model where resources and materials are permanently recycled and waste is minimized to the maximum, thus extending the life cycle of the products. Increasing the sustainability of the project by reducing the carbon footprint and greenhouse gas emissions and accelerating the construction process thanks to industrialization and prefabrication.
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Concepció by Nobis hotel in Palma de Mallorca, Spain | Jordi Herrero architecture and wingardhs interiors | September 2021
The project of Concepcio hotel transforms a historic building in Palma’s old town into a 31-room hotel, with a restaurant, reception, gym, spa, and other common services on the ground floor.
Initially, we take in the project from another architecture studio to develop only the direction of the works.
At the beginning of the works, historical remains appeared in the subsoil that must be preserved and that could be affected by the planned foundations.
All of this gave us the opportunity to rethink the initial project.
We put on our main focus in common areas of the future hotel: the entire ground floor of the building, the two staircases, and the rear terrace and pool area.
The room areas and distribution corridors were maintained according to the original design.
Concepcio hotel Project strategy:
1.- Detection, conservation, and put in value the construction elements of the original age building: arches, vaults, columns, corbels, stone-carved shields …
We made special efforts to recover as much as possible all the original textures and elements.
2.- Beyond the material construction elements, we attempted to recover the building’s spatial potential. Especially on the ground floor, we achieved a very wide open space that results in a unique environment.
3.- When incorporating the program (toilets, kitchen and service area, gym, spa …), we try to not disturb what has been achieved in the previous points:
-Structure: The new structure in the rear collapsed area of the building was built using a large-scale concrete slab of plank beams, accompanying the scale of the vaulted space.
This structure adapts to the existing structure and elements of Concepcio hotel to link and sew both spaces.
This would allow in the future for the entire ground floor to function as a single open space, the addition of the original vaulted structure and the new concrete slab.
-Distribution:
Ground floor: We have worked hard on the new distributions, not by means of walls from top to bottom, but by means of “boxes” that reach mid-height.
These “boxes” have a movable character and allow to perceive the general space of origin with respect to the distribution elements.
Exterior areas: We have worked to recover the materiality of the important dividing walls (Iglesia de la Sang, General Hospital, and Concepció 32 building).
We have incorporated a small pool and we have design terraces to revitalize this beautiful rear space.
Room area: The distribution of the original project has been maintained.
-Materiality: Another of the premises was that the original building and the new actions would not be mimicked but on the contrary, that they were clearly identifiable.
-Construction elements. The textures of the walls, vault, and pillars were cleaned and re-discovered.
-Steel. The distribution elements (boxes) were designed from abstract and simple volumes clad in steel. The main staircase also had to be widened to connect the upper level. This extension section was also designed in steel and with an abstract shape reminiscent of origami.
-Hydraulic flooring. For the pavement, we chose Huguet’s hand-made hydraulic pavement with a custom composition for the building.
A never been manufactured large-scale format (1m x 1m) was placed on the ground floor.
In the bedrooms and bathrooms, the format of the pieces is more conventional (25cm. x 25 cm.) It’s a material that connects with the tradition of hydraulic flooring in historic buildings and at the same time updates the building, giving the building a fresh and bright character.
-Mirrors. The large open space generated was complemented by the strategic placement of mirrors, which enhanced and complemented the perception of this area.
-Facilities:
-Air conditioning. For obvious reasons, the air conditioning installation could not be located on the ceiling. The engineers and the archaeologist worked together to develop an air system for the floor of the building. The longitudinal air diffusers placed on the ground were coordinated with the large-format hydraulic pavement.
-Lighting. We chose the indirect lighting system, taking advantage of it to highlight the valuable historical elements of the building.
-Vegetation: We have incorporated a large number of different plants, both inside and outside. The plants try to complete the atmosphere of open and airy space, similar to the feeling of the Mediterranean porches.
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Lookout tower on the Reus Delta, Seedorf-Aldorf, SwitzerlandLookout tower on the Reus Delta, Seedorf-Aldorf, Switzerland
Lookout tower on the Reus Delta, Seedorf-Aldorf, Switzerland
Lookout tower on the Reus Delta, Seedorf-Aldorf, Switzerland
Lookout tower on the Reus Delta, Seedorf-Aldorf, Switzerland
El Croquis 210/211 – Gion A. Caminada
Commissioned by ‘El Croquis’ publishers:
El Croquis N. 210/211 Gion A. Caminada. Identity, Autonomy and Resonance.
Gion Caminada was born in Vrin, Switzerland, in 1957. After working as an apprentice carpenter in Vrin, he attended a school of applied arts in Zurich and an art school in Florence prior to completing his postgraduate studies in architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. He has had his own architectural practice in Vrin since 1986. In 1998 he was appointed Assistant Professor at the ETH Zurich, where he was Associate Professor of Architecture and Design from 2008 to 2020. Since 2020 he has been a Full Professor of Architecture and Design at ETH Zurich.
Ballenberg open-air Museum administration building, Hofstetten bei Brienz, Switzerland
Ballenberg open-air Museum administration building, Hofstetten bei Brienz, Switzerland
Ballenberg open-air Museum administration building, Hofstetten bei Brienz, Switzerland
El Croquis 210/211 – Gion A. Caminada
Commissioned by ‘El Croquis’ publishers:
El Croquis N. 210/211 Gion A. Caminada. Identity, Autonomy and Resonance.
Gion Caminada was born in Vrin, Switzerland, in 1957. After working as an apprentice carpenter in Vrin, he attended a school of applied arts in Zurich and an art school in Florence prior to completing his postgraduate studies in architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich. He has had his own architectural practice in Vrin since 1986. In 1998 he was appointed Assistant Professor at the ETH Zurich, where he was Associate Professor of Architecture and Design from 2008 to 2020. Since 2020 he has been a Full Professor of Architecture and Design at ETH Zurich.
Located in Habarana, a hot, dry region of Sri Lanka, near the beauty of the majestic Sigiriya landscape citadel with its boulder and water gardens and on the edge of the bio-diverse Habarana Lake. Set on a 4.6 acre site surrounded by a rangeland forest and edged by a steam, this property is an eight-room boutique hotel with two additional villas, all of which have panoramic views of the paddy and the wilderness. The property has been conceptualized as a space for wellness; for the restoration of the mind, body and soul. The design draws from the quiet beauty of the region’s monastic landscapes.
Tea room | Wellness Retreat in Habarana, Sri Lanka.Twin houses | Wellness Retreat in Habarana, Sri Lanka.
Restaurant | Wellness Retreat in Habarana, Sri Lanka.
Room interior | Wellness Retreat in Habarana, Sri Lanka.
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El Croquis 212 – Palinda Kannangara Photo cover by Jesús Granada
Commissioned by ‘El Croquis’ publishers:
El Croquis N. 212 Palinda Kannangara
Palinda Kannangara (born 1970, Kolonnawa, Sri Lanka) has a background in mathematics and architecture. He majored in mathematics for his BSc (1996), however his primary calling was elsewhere. In 1994, he joined a study course conducted by the Sri Lanka Institute of Architects. As a student, he trained under Sri Lankan modernist architect Anura Rathnavibushana, who had worked with Geoffrey Bawa for 16 years. He established an independent practice in 2005, a year after receiving his Charter. His studio is now located in Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka. Palinda Kannangara Architects is an award-winning Sri Lankan architecture firm known for its experiential architecture that hinges on simplicity and connection with the natural environment. The firm’s work has been recognized for its contextual sensitivity, experimental use of materials and a minimalism that reflects the Sri Lankan ethos.
