ENGLISH TEXT

The magazine EN BLANCO is intended to diffuse knowledge of the best works of remains and the new museum to be built became part of an archaeological architecture and civil engineering made nowadays in concrete, preferably white and agricultural landscape, a witness of a remote past inserted among Andalusian or coloured. It is our intention to meet the interest of those who want to know the agricultural constructions. latest innovations in the fi eld of concrete architecture and at the same time, The romantic image of ruins, so many times rejected for being nostalgic and to serve as a disseminator of research emerged in the same fi eld. anachronistic, is, however, able to transmit not only the evocative power of ancient The purpose of EN BLANCO is to publish the results of formal, theoretical, constructions but also the destructive force of time and nature. Maybe it is in this technological and scientifi c research related to the production of buildings and duality –construction, deconstruction- where resides the fascination of archaeological engineering works that help defi ne our environment, built in concrete. remains, not only as the memory of missing buildings but as the trigger of the mental The magazine meets the formal and conceptual requirements that allow reconstruction of other future architectures. At least that is what we understood recognition as scientifi c publication. Thus the magazine follows a strict editorial during our fi rst visit to Medinat al-Zahra archaeological grounds. The remains of the policy, both in the selection of works and articles and in the periodicity and linguistic ancient Hispanic Muslim city suggested a dialogue with those who, a millennium ago, fi eld. It is described in the opening pages of each issue and published on the web. conceived it and built it; but also with the patient work of the archaeologists and with Compliance with this policy in the past two years, has enabled the magazine to be the surrounding agricultural landscape, which gains an abstract quality due to the assessed favorably and it appears indexed in the catalogs Latindex, DICE and RESH, geometry of the ruins. as well as databases ISOC and Dialnet. In MIAR ranks 12 of 37 national magazines The site reserved for the museum of the archaeological grounds aroused opposing and 118 of 183 international journals in the area of architecture, with a visibility index feelings. On the one hand, yearning for a remote undiscovered past that impregnates IDCS-2012 of 3,102. Currently still under evaluation and incorporation into other the landscape that stretches towards the mountains of Cordoba. On the other hand, the international quality indices. chaotic sprawl of the recent constructions hovered over the surroundings of what was Vicente Mas Llorens a palace-city. Our fi rst reaction on arrival would state the future project from the very beginning: we shouldn’t build in that landscape. In front of such a broad expanse we would like to work as an archaeologist would: not to construct a new building, but to THE WHITE CITY: MADINAT AL-ZAHRA fi nd it underground, as if the passage of time had kept it hidden until our days. “We set a two-dimensional mesh, a starting point and a referenced height level. We outline Enrique Sobejano two rectangular volumes from which to begin the excavation: removing regular successive Lehrstuhl für Experimentelles Gestalten und Grundlagen des Entwerfens layers in strata. The patient work ends up given encouraging results, revealing the layout Studiengang Architektur. Universität der Künste Berlin of a building whose walls will shape the museum, the auditorium, some workshops and Every architectural work establishes a conscious or unconscious bond with time. This storage facilities. We strengthen the walls, set their upper level and cover them. We found temporal nature of architecture, what Walter Benjamin 1 defi ned as past turned space, some paving from ancient patios and corridors: we restore them and turn them into the becomes particularly evident when a contemporary intervention takes place closely main focus of the new project. Finally, we establish the scope of our intervention by erecting related to historical buildings or archaeological remains. Under these circumstances a perimeter enclosure: a precinct that will protect the fi nds” 3 time operates in the project both as temporality and historical reality, in a dialogue Maybe this text extracted from the documents submitted for the competition is between present and past where every decision acquires not only a spatial and symbolic the best one to explain the idea that originated the Project: the metaphor of an sense, but also a constructive and material one. This was the leitmotiv of our project excavation. Thus, our task would be discovering and unearthing the architecture hidden for the Madinat al-Zahra Museum in Cordoba, conceived as a personal conversation underground, just like archaeologist still do. The underground museum articulates between the architect and the building, between the dynamic process of its development its spaces around a series of solids and voids, loggias and patios that lead the visitors and construction and the permanent presence of the ruins of the ancient Umayyad along their tour. From the main lobby a wide square courtyard with an imposing pool royal city. The refl ection upon the process of constructing, its materiality and execution arranges around it, like a cloister, the spaces for the assembly hall, cafeteria, shop, would become part of a shared narrative in which every action is understood as a library and exhibition gallery. A deep and longitudinal courtyard provides service to representation of some former reality, as an evocative interpretation of both the lost private areas such offi ces and workshops while another outer void that refl ects the Hispanic Muslim medina and the contemporary archaeological works. golden light on its white walls constitutes the extension of the exhibition area of In the second half of the 10th century, the fi rst caliph Abd al-Rahman III had the museum. Along the tours, storage areas, conceived as big spaces open to visitors promoted the erection of a palace-city on the outskirts of Cordoba, which was carried and illuminated from above, merge with public areas of exhibition and dissemination. out by his successor Al-Haka and was maintained just for around seventy years. The new building is built in only two fundamental materials, white concrete and A millennium ago, the disintegration of the Ummayad Caliphate, triggered in 1010 by the corten steel, evoking those colours of the stuccos used in the ancient city. Choosing violent destruction and plundering of Madinat al-Zahra, meant the disappearance of white concrete was not only an aesthetical choice, but a consequence of our will to its buildings and a fast oblivion of the city and its history, which has been shrouded in establish a bond between a contemporary material and the original construction legend for centuries. In 1911, the architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco began the recovery of Madinat al-Zahra. Conceiving the whole building–walls, slabs, pavings- in only of the ancient palace complex, undertaking the fi rst archaeological excavations, which one material that is built on the site means that its own construction implies have continued until our days with a minimum of breaks. A century later, in 2009, we its completion. In other words, walls and slabs are exposed and fi nished after fi nished the construction of a new museum and a centre of interpretation after ten deshuttering, incorporating all utilities inside without any other additional fi nishing. years of work, since our fi rst visit in 1999 to the site where the Andalusian Regional This constructive choice needed a paste of high homogeneity and compactness; so Government had announced the corresponding competition. That visit would mean we used white cement and 20mm limestone aggregates from Cabra, a nearby town the beginning of a long process –competition, project, construction- that made us to in Cordoba, in order to guarantee the uniformity and colour of the whole building. be gradually aware of the surprising bonds that sometimes architecture establishes Walls and slabs formworks played also an essential role. Tongue in Groove pine with time. Three chronological milestones -1010, 1911, 2009- concerning respectively to Wood panels (700mm x 20mm) were previously panel and sanded on site and then the destruction of the Arab city (a millennium ago), the beginning of the archaeological fi xed on rigid phenolic panels. We decided not to use release agent to avoid any excavations (a century ago) and the development and construction of the museum colour alteration that could modify its external appearance. The presence of white (during a decade), share the same space and unexpectedly assume a symbolic value that concrete in the whole building becomes so dominant that all aspects regarding to goes beyond the idea of an architecture that belongs to an only time and an only place. form, construction, texture and colour gain a fundamental role, not only qualitative, The original Arabic name of the city, Madinat al-Zahra, can be translated as the but also conceptual, as an expression of the close bond between the material and radiant or shinning city 2, probably, according to different writing sources because the generating idea. The formwork wood is arranged horizontally, providing a visual of its prevailing white and south oriented walls and buildings. The city was built continuity to the walls, only altered every 2,40m by vertical joints recalling the module in calcarenite limestone extracted from La Albaida, a nearby quarry. Its buildings of the formwork system that was used. Anchor marks are also arranged following were coated mostly with white stuccos, but also red-blood on socles. Together a regular mesh, setting another geometric layer upon the existing ones. All utilities with the tile roofs and the purplish limestone of some pavings, they composed a components –lighting, fi re protection, security, air conditioning- are integrated within radiant scene on the landscape surrounded by the red ochre of the land. Now, the the walls and slabs, nothing is left up to chance. The 4,80m module that organizes the memory of that white city mingles with the uniformity of the golden limestone used layout is transferred to the structure of the building and also to the constructive joints for erecting the imposing walls of the archaeological grounds. In our imagination, of the paving, which is made from the same white concrete and aggregates used for 118 the ancient medina that symbolized the absolute power of the caliph, the incomplete the walls. Many of these decisions evolved along the development and erection of the

EN BLANCO · Nº 10 · 2012 · LOS COLORES DEL HORMIGÓN building making us aware of the meaning that materials and construction system gave over the years. In these wineries, a stately character building, that houses have as the support of architectural form. the residence of the family who give name to winery and production building, Almost imperceptibly, the new museum establishes a permanent dialogue with the built mainly as large bearing walls and wooden spatial structures. The wineries architecture and the landscape of the ancient Arab medina. The double square fl oor of Señorio de Sarriá and Señorio de Otazu, both located in Navarra, are prime plan of the museum becomes homothetic with the fl oor plan of the city, shaped by a examples of this trend. FIGURE 02 1500m x 750m rectangle. The modulation of the gardens evokes the neglected geometry Following this stage is the twentieth century and the ambition for large-scale of an excavation; white concrete walls and red corten steel roofs refl ect the colours operations, seeking to rapidly increase the economic benefi ts under quantitative of the stuccos that once coated the walls of the city. The light, the shade, the texture rather than qualitative criteria. As a result, the architecture of winemaking and the material abstract the perceptive richness transmitted by the archaeological facilities is limited to low spatial and constructive quality industrial spaces, where remains. Thus, architecture turns into the spatial and formal expression of its own no attention is paid to the location and denies any connection with the landscape. construction, in a too many times forgotten bond. Every time we visited the site during However, from the second half of the century, the fortunate convergence of two new the construction, the new white wall that were being erected took us to those that once factors favoured the construction of architectures that again would be worthy of were destroy and now were being unearthed by archaeologist just a few metres away, being taken into consideration. On the one hand, technological advances responsible in a sort of reverse process –construction, destruction- that seemed to hold all the for ensuring a greater product quality throughout the manufacturing process, rightness of the project. The museum emerges quietly in the landscape as it had been such as temperature and humidity controls and resulting in a lower subjection found underground, just in the same way that the remains of the ancient white city of of the architecture to production constraints and on the other, new construction Madinat al-Zahra will do over the coming years; expressing within its concrete walls technologies, especially reinforced concrete and steel. These two new components the strange quality that some buildings transmit as past turned space. have given greater freedom in the design of production facilities, creating great examples, such as the Tio Pepe winery designed by Eduardo Torroja from sheets Illustrations of concrete over a forty meter span, or the winery of San Patricio de Miguel Fisac, solved with prefabricated concrete throughout the set. IMG. 1 Aerial view of the Madinat al-Zahra archaeological grounds. Photo: Tena Finally, it is worth mentioning an event which has developed over the last two IMG. 2 Aerial view of Madinat al-Zahra Museum. Photo: F.Alda decades of the century; it deals with a type of tourism linked to the culture of wine, IMG. 3A Detail of the archaeological ground. Photo: F.Alda called “wine tourism” which generated the renovation and development of this type IMG. 3B Entrance of the museum. Photo: F.Alda of architecture. The wine industry has been seen in the buildings themselves, in the IMG. 4A Detail of the archaeological ground. Photo: F.Alda wineries, a new source of revenue related to social culture, recreation and architecture IMG. 4B Detail of the Southern courtyard of the museum. Photo: R.Halbe. of the place where they are inserted; in this way, the building, in addition to being IMG. 5A Detail of the archaeological ground. Photo: F.Alda the production site is a tourist attraction in which space is required for receiving the IMG. 5B Detail of the museum workshops courtyard. Photo: R. Halbe public. Thus, the architecture becomes an element for the marketing of the winery, and IMG. 6A Detail of Yafar’s House. Photo: F.Alda container and contents are unifi ed with a commercial purpose. Renowned architects IMG. 6B Detail of the autidorium wall. Photo: R.Halbe from around the world have been called to renew the image of prestigious wineries, IMG. 7A Detail of the archaeological ground. Photo: F.Alda such as Richard Rogers and his project for Protos winery in Valladolid, Frank Gehry and IMG. 7B Detail of the museum services courtyard. Photo: R. Halbe. his hotel for Bodega Marques de Riscal in Álava or Santiago Calatrava and his design IMG. 8. Concrete wall construction detail. for the Ysios Winery, also located in Álava. IMG. 9. Detail of the external wall of the museum. Photo: F.Alda In any case, it would be wrong to assume that this new era of architecture Endnotes only comes into contact with wine culture to create a brand image. The design of a winery is also an architectural exercise of maximum sensitivity, where the 1 BENJAMIN Walter. “Das Passagen-Werk”, in “Gesammelte Schriften”, ed. Rolf Tiedemann, architect seeks a harmony between the distant environment (wooded masses), Frankfurt a.M. Suhrkamp, 1982, V,2., p. 1041. the surrounding area (crop planes), and object (the architecture). For this reason 2 LÉVI-PROVENÇAL, E. “España Musulmana hasta la caída del Califato de Córdoba and before presenting the three Spanish wineries belonging to the latter stage of (711-1013 d.JC)”, t.IV from Historia de España, dir. By R.Menéndez Pidal, Madrid architecture for marketing services, we proceed to analyze the landscape as 3 From the documentation submitted for “Concurso para la construcción de la Sede a starting concept in the genesis of the project. Institucional del recinto Arqueológico de Madinat al Zahra, Córdoba”. Project by Fuensanta The landscape, one of the main factors in wine architecture. Nieto and Enrique Sobejano The wineries are an architectural fact that on very few occasions is an urban type. Generally the location of these sets is in rural areas, amid the vines and without COLOURED CONCRETE AS A LANDSCAPE INTEGRATOR transition spaces between them and the buildings. For this reason, the landscape IN WINE ARCHITECTURE becomes one of the main factors that contribute objective and subjective conditionings, to the personal concerns of the designer. The place where the built volumes are Nuria Salvador Luján and Laura Lizondo Sevilla located is a natural tapestry, geometrically ordered, which draws the topography of The Polytechnic University of Valencia. Department of Architectural Projects the land with alignment of the grapevines. The vine itself is an instrument for altering the landscape that with its rhythm breaks and transforms the hillside, giving them an The 20th century, the renewal brought about by wine tourism anthropised aspect of nature which serves as a base for the building that is inserted into Wine production has required space for its production and storage since ancient it, imposing the environment or respecting it. FIGURE 03 times. Originally, spaces and storage areas were only for grape fermentation and This paper presents three solutions of wineries that venture on the advisability of ageing and then stored in the form of wine. adopting an integrated solution into the vineyard countryside; wineries that advocate The sole purpose of these spaces was to respond to the prevailing conditioning for architecture rooted in a particular place among which should consider new of controlling hygrothermal conditions, therefore the most widespread solution was construction. It is in this quest for integration, both in terms of materials and in the use of the natural conditions of thermal inertia that the ground offered. relation to the ways in which the coloured concrete landscape adjustment achieves Thus, these spaces dedicated to wine production were planned as excavated excellent ... Three Spanish wineries illustrate the application of pigments in the architecture; dark spaces and limited accessibility that were only visited by a few, concrete and where this material and constructive choice defi nes a landscape that usually members of the same family, and on certain days. Examples of these relates to the natural environment, culture and architecture, in a rich dialogue constructions are the Bretó de la Ribera group wineries and the route of the between continuity and differentiated solutions. Coomonte de la Vega, and the Bodega Dehesa La Granja in Vadillo de la Guareña wineries or Dionisios Winery in Valdepeñas. FIGURE 01 The coloured concrete, integrated image of three Spanish wineries It will be in the mid-nineteenth century when the need arises for an architecture Firstly, and in a purely chronological order, the following wineries are shown: that accommodates mass production. From this moment on, these facilities were no Julian Chivite (1998-2001), located in Cientruénigo, near Estella (Navarra), and longer completely buried and due to volume, they emerged to the surface, at least designed by Rafael Moneo. FIGURE 04 in a large part of its program. Therefore, the relationship with the site became more Moneo has designed a building for the Chivite family which surrounds the old important. The constructive solutions were outlined as sets of high architectural facilities of the “Señorio de Arinzano” estate. The most prominent is the pre-existence quality in full relationship with the landscape, not to mention the patrimonial nature it of the prismatic tower built in masonry. Next to it is a small church in neoclassical style 119

ENGLISH TEXT and an eighteenth century mansion. The architect has assessed the interest of such One of the main concerns of the architect was the integration of large volumes in buildings, isolating and restoring those that deserve to join the set and complete it with the earthy environment, so that it would assume the new building naturally, as if it a building of longitudinal trace and mass, built with coloured concrete, embracing the had always been part of it. The color supports this concept. As the architect explains three historic buildings, turning the set, in the words of its author, into a “scenic winery”. that the concrete refers to the ocher-yellow sandstone of the area that often, In the composition, there is a reference to the past through the use of predominantly especially on sunny days, is golden. blind walls, made with cream colour pigment, receiving a granulated exposed treatment These objectives are solved and marked by the use of colored concrete in all the and sand blasting. The choice of colour and fi nish of the concrete have the appeal of walls forming the winery. Monolithic and pigmented concrete prevail the set that acquiring, over time, a patina close to the local limestone of the pre-existing, which encompasses a total volume of 12,000 m³ of concrete. To manufacture the concrete allows to seamlessly integrate the construction of a new plant in this enclave. with ocher (Ready Mix) the pigment iron oxide Yellow formirapid ® with a Bayferrox ® The winery tour begins in the front yard where the grape is received, an enclosed 920 base was added to the concrete. The mixture was made directly on site achieving space and closed around its perimeter by the vigorous volumes that make up the the desired uniform color. The result of this mixture and production of coloured complex of pavilions. The fi rst is a large square room sectioned into fi ve naves which concrete was a structure that was adapted to uneven terrain with harmonious colour holds the grape pressing and processing, and storage of the vats and barrels for aging. and consistent with the landscape. The structure, - shaped with concrete walls 30 centimeters thick, an internal thermal Both the program that is located on a low slope and the vegetation cover help to insulation of 16 cm, a sheet of brick of 11.5 cm, brick plaster and cement mortar of 2.5 minimize the impact of the volume on the landscape. In enclosed spaces, are where cm - facilitates the necessary temperature regulation. Then pass to the second building the productive activities take place and whose needs for thermal equilibrium advise its whose walls share the same constructive solution as above and in which the bottling protection with the natural terrain. The administrative area of a more public character plant is situated. Finally, the tour ends in the third pavilion, a smaller building housing emerges on the surface in a game of geometric curves around the circular space that the offi ces and tasting rooms. On a landscape level, this body closes the whole plant welcomes visitors and is established as the reference in the landscape. This volume in a “U” shape to form the ‘protective enclosure’ of existing buildings. includes a hotel with 12 luxury suites that can offer unique experiences in dining The architectural set creates a sequence that lovingly tells the story of the excellence, where guests can learn in detail about the world of wine. Once again, winemaking process. Also and above all, it is a landscape architecture, rooted to the concrete comprises the tectonic and stereotomic of the winery ... the built and the place, in dialogue between artifact and environment, a perceptual and sensory the excavated.... Concrete is the material that takes shape in the artifi ce in complete relationship from the landscape to the warehouse and from the warehouse to the chromatic and material harmony with the nature. FIGURE 09 landscape. In the words of architect Iñaki Berguera “the emphasis of its architecture is the austerity of textures and materials, that magical combination of modernity and tradition Conclusions that Moneo speaks with perfection.” In this case the use of concrete aims to improve the The application of new building techniques and technologies in winemaking as well as visitor experience, as one of the materials that drink from wine- producing traditions of fi nding a product qualifi cation were decisive factors in the renewal of wine architecture. the area and whose best result is respect and continuity of the winery with the existing However, the most important factor in the last two decades has been the development pre-existing, but printing its own contemporary and differential language. FIGURE 05 of “wine tourism” and its contribution as a new source of income. This new concept The second operation is the Juan Alcorta winery (2000-2003). Designed by Ignacio of tourism has meant that wineries have opted to construct buildings that renew their Quemada, a disciple of Moneo, is only several kilometers from the Arínzano winery on image and incorporate public programs, ceasing to be agricultural buildings and the Ebro Valley, in La Rad de Santa Cruz. FIGURE 06 becoming advertising references. It is in this last stage where the three conceived works This time the walls are red dyed precast concrete, in response to the strata have been presented here: the winery of Chivite Moneo, Juan Alcorta of Quemada and discovered when digging. The pigment used makes the concrete acquire a color Antión, Marino. Three examples of architectures formally contained, integrated and close to the natural earth tones, making explicit its capacity as an integral element in rooted in place, in which the use of colored concrete unites nature and artifact. the landscape. This virtue has been assimilated by many authors, such as Zaparaín So, in the case of the Moneo winery, the dialogue is set thanks to the sensitivity Hernandez, whose solution of dyed concrete in the expansion of Pago de Carraovejas to the location, the geometry and tone of granulated exposed concrete in cream, a winery retakes this tone. In the case of the Juan Alcorta winery, the walls are built by material that over time acquires a very similar aspect to the pre-existing stone. In the stacking horizontal bands that provide an aspect of belonging to the land, as if the river Quemada winery, the red colouring in the horizontal layout of precast concrete walls is erosion had produced that sternotomy. Architecture is basically landscape: a large the mechanism linking architecture with the strata of local terrain. And in the work of roof that physically extends the vineyards thanks to the merging of color and material Marino regarding the landscape, is due both to the plasticity of concrete to adopt curved between the red concrete walls and horizontal landscape of the vineyards. geometry and the use of ocher pigments that associate the building both chromatically Concrete not only forms the envelope but the outer walls extend to the interior of and formally with the territory. the winery, shaping the entry courtyard and cave; the concrete articulates the building These are three brilliant proposals responding to the needs of the program and and generates the route through its cavity. The new building is split into two quite functional landscape. Three projects designed and built based on the relationship distinct architectural realities, for reasons of functional order and integration into the between place and the concrete,... and we must not forget that a winery project is a landscape. Firstly, two small buildings intended for administrative and tourist activities, landscape project in which, as we have illustrated in this paper, coloured concrete which rise above the vineyards respecting the scale and architectural form of rural is a valuable tool of integrated character. buildings of that geographical area; secondly, and also in response to the landscape, large naves are buried and in them productive activities and storage are developed. Illustrations

Its colossal size, making it one of the largest wineries in Europe (44,000 square FIGURE 01 On top two examples of family wineries: Bretó de la Ribera group of wineries and image of meters of underground storage capacity to store six million bottles of wine and 70,000 the path of the wineries in Coomonte de la Vega. At the bottom two examples of dug cellars but with oak barrels) making a successful dialogue impossible with the surrounding landscape, higher production: the historical winery Don Carlos S.XV and the winery Dehesa La Granja in Vadillo making a successful dialogue impossible with the surrounding landscape, therefore the de la Guareña. decision was taken to hide them as a solution to respect the environment, while taking advantage of the wisdom of traditional wineries in reference to the excellent climate FIGURE 02 Images of Señorío de Sarriá wineries 1953, and Señorio de Otazu, both located in Navarra.

control characteristics of underground construction. The architecture of this project FIGURE 03 Aerial view of the vineyards in Gumiel del Mercado and image of the vineyards in the seeks a relationship with the place that it is attached to and the silence and darkness Rioja region. of the land on which it is submerged. FIGURE 07 Finally, we present the third example, the winery Antión (2002 2008), in Ciego, FIGURE 04 Aerial view and main fl oor of the Julian Chivite Winery, designed by Rafael Moneo. (Source: picture: Hisao Suzuqui, plan: Rafael Moneo) designed by Jesus Marino. FIGURE 08 One of the leitmotifs of this project was the building’s natural adaptation to the FIGURE 05 Images of Julian Chivite winery (Source: Hisao Suzuqui) environment, considering the piece as a stock of vines rooted in the ground. Thus, the FIGURE 06 General view and main fl oor of the Juan Alcorta winery, made by Ignacio Quemada. wine production areas are submerged and rising to the surface is the program for (Source: picture: Duccio Malagamba, plan: Ignacio Quemada) public use. Following this objective, the premise of the project was the protection and care of the environment: an exercise in surveying and shaping the territory, the project FIGURE 07 Images of Juan Alcorta winery (Source: Duccio Malagamba) of a detailed fi t of large volumes, materialised by continuous screens and curves that FIGURE 08 Aerial view and drawing of the plan made by Jesus Marino, author of Antion winery. gently sculpt the abrupt morphology of the plot of more than 10 meters high, allowing (Source: picture: Jose Maria Cutillas, plan: Jesus Marino) the visitor to immerse in the landscape. The fan-like position of these powerful screens, 120 create intermediate exterior spaces designated to housing part of the program. FIGURE 09 Images of Antion winery (Source: Jose Maria Cutillas)

EN BLANCO · Nº 10 · 2012 · LOS COLORES DEL HORMIGÓN Bibliography takes a step back in this clarity to reunite enclosure and structure on the fi rst fl oor with the beam-wall, which is not just a cover but a living space. BERGUERA, Iñaki. “Vino y arquitectura: un matrimonio de conveniencia”. Nuestro tiempo. 2007, Nº 641, pages 16-27. Another substantial difference refers to the scale. It reduces the size of the MARINO, Jesús; VICENTE, Pascual. “Bodega Antión. El Ciego. Álava”. Arketypo: Basque journal of art, fl oor (from 15 m in the Fifty by fi fty feet House about 10 m in the Ritter-Gey) and architecture and design. 2008, Nº 12, pages 88-93. it is elevated above ground level, resulting in a more compact and cubic volume 2. Furthermore, the reduction of structural spans solves the fl oor structure with PERIS SÁNCHEZ, Diego. “Arquitectura del vino: un elemento más de la calidad del producto”. VinoTeQ: reinforced continuous concrete slabs with a constant depth, without resorting to the vino, tecnología, equipo, calidad. 2008, Nº 39, pages 52-54. solution of different nerve depths that Mies proposed. Moreover, the structural system itself changes since it no longer deals with a large roof supported by four central ZAPARAÍN, Fernando. “Ampliación de la bodega de Pago de Carraovejas”. CIAB V Congreso points, with resulting fl exo-torsion efforts. What appears in the Swiss house is a large Internacional de Arquitectura Blanca. 2012, Nº 5, pages 274-279. girder which simultaneously solves the enclosure of the fi rst fl oor and the structural system, through the extension to the four walls, a hollow box is formed supported on Endnotes brackets located at the midpoints of each side. 1 Berguera, Iñaki. “VINO Y ARQUITECTURA. Un matrimonio de conveniencia”. Revista The powerful depth of the element resolves the bends at the ends of the cantilever Nuestro Tiempo. November 2007. Pages 16-27 (reduced by over 30% compared to Mies project) the overall stability is obtained through 2 Peñafi el, Valladolid. Year of project: 2003, completion of work: 2011. Work published in the the supportive contribution of all four fronts, and the fi nal rigidity is conferred by books of records of CIAB 5: V Congreso Internacional de Arquitectura Blanca. 2012, Nº 5, horizontal slabs of the fl oor, so that the span does not need special structural displays. pages 274-279. So those two related decisions, the change of the object scale and the layering, revert back to a more domestic solution from the constructive and balanced from the visual. On the other hand, if we look at the fl oor we see how the initial similarity of the FIFTY BY FIFTY FEET HOUSE/RITTER-GEY HOUSE. square and the four pillars, gives way to an interior drawing diametrically opposed. HATEFUL COMPARISONS The 50x50 house started from the right angles of the container to articulate all the Alfonso Díaz Segura rooms based on a drawer that housed the service rooms and facilities. IMAGE 02 School of Technical Education CEU University-Cardenal Herrera In the way the Farnsworth house had solved the interior layout with a single exempt volume, the small prototype also served the displacement of the core closing on Sometimes an image, material, or detail, are reminiscent of an earlier work with which the fl oor to compose various gaps around it, which corresponded to the dining there is no more to it than the purely superfi cial. The case that will be analyzed is of one room, living room, or master bedroom. The rules were basically the same: avoid the fl oor and the position of the pillars which triggers the evocative mechanism. However, appearance of partitions, reducing it to central elements built into the volume, and we will see how, beyond formal coincidence, matters such as the idea of space or its defi ne the rooms as the gap between one of the core fronts and glazing perimeter. own structural system distancing itself permanently. The major step with respect to the Farnsworth house lies in the agreement between The Ritter-Gey house in Eschen (Liechtenstein) is an example of formal and form and structural solution: the house in Plano was repeating a front porch constructive rigor belonging to the team of Swiss architects Bearth&Deplazes. But parallel to the façade that generated a longitudinal piece; an elongated volume what stands out is its formal proximity to the 50x50 House by Mies van der Rohe and whose interior space was confi ned by the glazed perimeter, coinciding with the putting at a crossroads that radical proposal when the leap is taken to constructed position of the pillars, thus acting as an anchor cage. In addition, the solution of the and concrete reality. tectonic knots and the indifference of dimension of the two frameworks increased The Fifty by Fifty Feet House had many functional problems, and predictably others the sense of abstraction. For its part, the 50x50 resolved a square space with a of livability and constructive 1 nature were added. But having never been built, they bidirectional and symmetrical structure, both in the design of the roof and in the were nullifi ed by the visual power of the proposal and the impeccable relationship position of the pillars. It achieved full coherence between form and construction, between structure, space and shape of a square fl oor. and thus began the road to canonical solutions that we see repeated in the project The Swiss house is part of that pure geometry of the square fl oor, stripped here of of the offi ces for Bacardi in Santiago de Cuba, or the Neue National Gallerie the conceptual density of Mies, but advance to other weaker variables without detracting in Berlin: the progressive reduction in formal architecture in pure and stable visual appeal of the results. And it is carried out by two decisions that contravene the geometries, the sublimation of clear glass enclosure, and condensation of space in essence of Fifty by fi fty: increase one fl oor and replace steel for concrete. a self-suffi ciency that is intense and absolute. 3 The descent into the real world of Bearth&Deplazes involves understanding the In the Bearth&Deplazes house the solution of the fl oor “undermined” the anti- house as a place of social and work relationships, but also of rest and privacy, so Cartesian and reticular thinking of Mies that served the orthogonal trace of the the program of bedrooms are elevated to the fi rst fl oor and function with a sense vertical planes, but also the drawing of the nerves of the soffi t of the roof or the of fragmented space so that each room is defi ned by the perimeter and partitions. quartering of the pavement to build his universe. Indeed, the ground fl oor here is The ground fl oor, on the contrary, assumes its public role and exhibits its spatial made around the diagonal and a twist that on the fi rst fl oor, mark the position of the fl uidity through the transparency of the enclosure and free disposition of the stairs, windows shaped like mill blades. The stairs play the organising role that the damp fi replace and furniture as elements which defi ne different areas. On the other core had in Mies proposals. Its only location forms, in this case two triangular areas hand, the change of material, from steel to colored concrete, allows for the adding that correspond to the lounge and kitchen- dining area respectively. The upper fl oor of the new fl oor without losing the idea of an open space fi nished off with a solid functions around the direction given by the stairs, which at this level appears closed, entablature. But it deals with an element that through growth makes it possible and bathrooms arranged in the orthogonal. The result is a collection of rooms that to compositionally conclude the house while it is made habitable, as if the roof of maintain a right angle in which the window is conceived as a hole drilled in the the bidirectional beams had been hollowed out to house the bedroom fl oor. And compact mass of concrete. so, almost effortlessly, reverses the proportion of the opaque and transparent There is a clear contrast between the image of the bedroom fl oor which is maintaining the subtle encounter with the ground. IMAGE 01 fragmented and solid to the lower fl oor which is transparent and open, reinforcing The lightness and coldness of the glass and steel are replaced by a warm and the distinction between the public and private in the domestic program. IMAGE 03 solid image though the weightless of the concrete is suspended on four supports at The American house project responded to the interest shown by the developer the midpoints of the fl oor. The dark gray concrete helps create a heavy, dull and deep Herbert Greenwald 4, who he worked with on large scale projects in the mass that will ensure privacy and contrasts with the lower vacuum on which it seems prefabrication of houses. Like Mies, and with the help of Myron Goldsmith in to fl oat. This weightlessness echoes inside the detail of the stairs without touching structural design, they worked on a prototype for mass production that would meet the framework, or fi replace suspended from the ceiling, as if the intention was unique the needs of diverse households. The strategy was to build a steel exterior skeleton and global and adapted to the different scales of approach to the work. However, the and an inner core, inheriting the concept used in the Farnsworth house, change of the material and structural system reduces the clarity of Mies´ proposal of to provide the resulting space with maximum fl exibility. Therefore, the schemes and separating the functions of each element constituting the object and showing the roof approaches to different solutions were not seeking an ideal solution, but to open a covers and bestows visual stability while the supports collaborate in the achievement range of possibilities to the needs of one to fi ve people. 5 For its part, the Ritter-Gey of a bisymmetrical order; fi nally, only the walls delimit the interior and show its non- house, despite specifying a specifi c solution with four pieces on the upper fl oor, supporting character through its transparency. The indoor unit which determines the could assume changes in the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, or remove the distribution, although opaque, creates doubt about its solely organizational role of the stairs to the roof, without losing the internal organisation or external image. program, since they do not appear in the constructive sections at all. The Swiss house It can be said therefore that it is a dwelling that is capable of the reproduction and 121

ENGLISH TEXT adaptation to different needs, because the stability is the perimeter where the space with a maximum length of transport- 12m- limiting the span between porches. structure is and not the internal distribution. With a fi xed width, the length is measured according to the required program. There are obvious similarities in the two homes that speak of controlling the form The vertical dimension is determined by the acoustics of the room - minimum-volume or the dialog of the pillars with the glass membrane. Differences are also notable, such per viewer [8m3], relying on the proportion between the dimensions of the aspect ratio as the change in material or the volume. But essentially, it is the spatial concept that of listening conditions. 5 encloses space, or the relationship of technology with architecture, Mies’ proposal still 2.-Second movement, movement of the pawn: technical dimension 6 holds quality and clarity diffi cult to emulate. “Understanding grows when you understand the procedure. That consciousness kills [understood to artwork] is an old wives tale, it just kills the false consciousness “ 7 Endnotes (ADORNO 1980: 281). 1 Special interest marks the problem with the meeting of the planes of glass in the corner Assembly and installation, requires a very accurate idea of what you want to that were dealt with so many times throughout Mies career. The visual rigor of Mies gave build. A metric and modular concept that organizes everything from the part is the appearance of a metal profi le in each meeting, to create the rhythm or as part of the the route of integration of the forces of production in which the interior of art wooden frame. In the case of Fifty by Fifty House, the intervention of an additional bar is not and society coincide, avoiding any risk of falsifi cation of history, at the expense anticipated and as a result he faces a diffi cult decision: use a cementitious material that of transferring the resolution position, decision making, at the design stage; would seal the joints of the angles or a strip of neoprene like that of the last curtain walls anticipating the work of construction management. that were used by Saarinen in General Motors, or even a third piece of glass. In any case, Construction cannot be simpler: using the most up-to-date methods and products. abandoning the Project prevented Mies from facing a matter that, as Myron Goldsmith It is the material from which the standard industrial buildings are made, found in stated was more aesthetic than technical. See LAMBERT, Phyllis: “Mies Immersion”, standard industrial sites. They are used, here as well as there, using the logic of in LAMBERT, Phyllis Ed.: Mies in America. Canadian Centre for Architecture & Whitney maximum economy of means and resources. Those materials which the industry Museum of American Art, 2001, pgs. 461 and 519. offers and is rejected and despised for use in construction are taken up here, put in 2 The Ritter-Gey house consists of three fl oors, two raised and one underground. Visually place, with mastery. This is not arte povera; the material really fi nds its place. however, the house appears to consist only of the two fl oors emerging from the ground, Rather than fi nding a coherent system in the formal, in a language, we see an and these are what we consider for comparative analysis of Mies housing. The 50x50 house, excellent mechanical behavior, a culture of the material added to the nakedness being a prototype, did not consider the site as a design variable. of the procedure. The construction is Gothic: nerve, tendon and webs An example is the monotonous repetition of the frameworks of the prefabricated 3 En GIOVANNI, Fanelli and GARGIANI, Roberto: Storia dell’ archittetura contemporanea. modular enclosure that is diluted by superimposing a drawing of relief lines that blur Spazio, struttura, involucro. Roma: Editori Laterza, 2005, p. 281. the presence of joints between plates. 4 This Rabbinic university student revolutionised the American furniture panorama thanks to The condition emanating from the rigor of the plan is sovereign. The logic is rigorous, this alliance with Mies, resulting in the suggestion of some of the most infl uential buildings the resources immediate. They are means of production that are available to everyone, in the second half of the XX century: the Promontory Apartments, Lake Shore Drive, 900 but the courage, confi dence and clarity in the method is not very common. Esplanade, and the towers of the Common-wealth Promenade. The last person to do this was Alexander the Sota 8, perhaps before Hannes Meyer,

5 SCHULZE, Franz: The Mies van der Rohe Archive. Volume Fifteen. Fifty by Fifty Feet House. but few people know about these things, and it is certainly something very valuable, 9 New York and London: GarlanPub. Inc., 1992, p. endowed with the strength of the unprecedented and far from what are exquisite , danger facing what the author wants to evoke. Decorum and elegance. Adaptation to the necessary, restraint in the expressive, gestural and the excessive. THE AUDITORIUM- MUSIC SCHOOL OF BENEJUZAR-ALICANTE. SPAIN 3.-Third movement. The movement of the horse: the external laws – heteronomy 10. Ángel Allepuz Pedreño The area in which it is situated, displays a strange discontinuity in the overall plot of School of Architecture. Department of Graphic Expression and Cartography. University of Alicante the town roads. The building was carefully set liberating all visuals from the adjacent streets, anticipating the possibility of correcting the traces. The entrance pavilion, an “MUSIC PRACTICE” independent piece is treated like an almost exterior porch/arcade: it is the continuation There are two kinds of music: the one heard and the one played ... The same author of route/layout of a street. The fi rst opposition to chaos. may be a lesser musician for the one who listens, greater for the one who plays the On an urban scale, it is a protective wall for the garden, a defensive wall. pieces [although he does it badly]: this is what happens with Schumann“(BARTHES At both ends two world views: as a representation –the stage-; as recreation - the 1986: 257). 1 This is the position in which one is placed when performing the work garden with a pond. One end is active, the other contemplative. On one end you listen, of another. The analytical work done posteriori cannot replace what the author has on the other, you study, a “sonífer” garden. 11 done a priori, but there is no reason to think that it must prevail in front of him. You have to go through it like a door wall, with a right turn, - so you enter the The task of unraveling, which is always enlightening, led the ruthless F.Milizia 2 courtyard of the Alhambra wells-: inside this garden 12. to write that “If artists were required to write analytical descriptions of their works, Upon entering, you exit. The shorter arm is the most active. Everything is energy and they would plan rational ones , or not do one or the other.” [Sic] (Milizia: 1992). fl ight. From city traffi c to nature. In the park both are manifested, the terrace- the fl ight This is not, nor was standard and we witness the succession of architectural point is not for exiting, but to be seen and heard, to express its sound and expansive experiences without causing a buildup of knowledge, perhaps because the critical condition, to be displayed. sense does not help very much in promoting them. Critique is not required but the slow romantic component of the prevailing demand for the show: “The general 4. –Fourth movement. The Queen: The experience and its answer 13 – the autotelic 14 movement which has replaced Critique for sales promotion does not continue to affect But what, if any, the perceived 15 the block of sensations that make this building stand the philosophy [see architecture]. The drill [...] has become the true concept…]” 3 alone, that acquires existence for itself?, What is the act by which the compound of (DELEUZE:. 1993:16). sensations created remains in itself? Cinemas and theaters are designed with the intention of denying the qualities 1.-First movement – the movement of the tower: the internal-independence status 4 of architectural space, for some the only material that architecture is made The formal confi guration process seems additive, serial and modular, but this is of, canceling the fundamental condition of the illuminated space, denying the not the case; the form has its origin in an extrusion. There is no serialization it is motion, contraction of the visual fi eld and reducing its depth and limiting it a extensive and continuous. The display is unidirectional, stretched, elongated and two-dimensional plane, it frames the gaze, the lights go off. No more anti spatial is developed in the direction in which the sound moves from its focal point- the experience. Architects try to escape this trap: scenery, an optical illusion to stage-box, has a beginning but no end. However, this space cannot be explored simulate a space without depth, false architectures-Palladium-, or true-Rome, dynamically, it cannot be travelled. release the background of the stage -Greece- provide natural light in the Oiza- room Paradoxically, the type is a cross plan, centralized and centrifuged: A Cross of a in Santander. In auditoriums the visual space is replaced by the sound space. It is solid main body, with a hollow and cutting volume -a kiosk on a garden terrace. another sense that works. Here the light enters from the fl oor, coming from the Greater Centralised-arm. As the action is triggered from the center and then returns garden. Inside we hear but do not see, and what we see moves to a different rhythm to it.Centrifuge-lower arm - as there is a line of fl ight, a vector that expels you. to what we hear, this breakdown of perceptual logic – the discord between what is Two parallel porches in the longest dimension, with a free extreme and cantilevered seen and heard, is really extraordinary. We return to the garden, we can see it but 122 whose length can be increased indefi nitely, it receives the alveolar plates to cover the not hear it.

EN BLANCO · Nº 10 · 2012 · LOS COLORES DEL HORMIGÓN Containment, no gravity, the horizontal thrust is important and not the vertical. Benejúzar Auditorium and School of Music is placed in accordance with surroundings The walls do not support anything - they carefully avoid receiving any load, the and with the wish to generate a green public area. A new square, with a recreational and biggest of which has been subtly separated from the ground. So, what are they? service nature, that boosts youth facilities and the sense of community. What are they doing there? Are they defense walls, the shield? None of that, they are The building is composed of two distinct volumes, with a different function and there for the building and its energy cannot escape. a different construction: the Auditorium and the School of Music. The initial goal was to achieve a direct relation between the users of the building and the square. Daylight The architect: is directed towards the inside, organizing the different spaces of the building into a - Draw a line on the fl oor- separate the city from the garden-the building is a wall. hierarchy. It was also our aim to create fl exible spaces and the possibility to combine - Clone the line, the building is a wall with two canvases –fi lling structure 16. different uses at the same time without interferences. - Duplicate each canvas in two planes, one exterior: black, monolithic, another The main volume hosts the auditorium, which has a capacity for 340 seats (260 interior: white and fragmented. stalls, 80 fi rst fl oor), and a rehearsal room. The auditorium is located between two - Unfold the interior plane: one rigid and massive, another interior subtle and technical walls that distribute all sorts of installations alongside and shape the vibrant. Light interior: resonator of the plates, heavy exterior: law of masses silhouette of the building towards the park. The venue full of sound, pushing, supports the building. It is an elastic body: The project is based on the use of precast concrete elements in combination with tight-loose, contract-expand. It has become a wind instrument: continuous fl ow metal columns. Their dimensions determine the geometry of the building. Thus, the that gives it a gentle vibration. main volume is 12 metres wide, just the optimal span to be built with such elements The sound comes from one end, on stage, it moves around the building and taking also into account transportation diffi culties. This span is covered by hollow-core escapes through the background. The length sharpens the tone. Like the fl ute slabs (l=12m, t=33cm) and a structural concrete topping (t=10cm). there is a space to create another note. It opens and closes- garden doors-varying On longitudinal façades we used white precast concrete panels (120cmx480cmx12cm). the general tone. They are horizontally ribbed on the outer face with irregular interval grooves of 3cm The north wall is folded and knocked over as if by visual powers- pass the eye. depth. Three different patterns were designed and combined through façade in order to The south wall rises tautly to refl ect sound tight and let the light in. Vertical-zenith. generate a vibration and disguise joints between panels. The pond in the west background reproduces in the vibration of the surface the The smaller volume, whose entrance is on the Southern façade, is made of exposed last waves escaping the building; they are refl ected on the wall to return to the shuttered concrete, using 100cmx12cm* pine wood formworks. We made use of H-250 place from which they came. concrete with an additive (a Bayer black colour pigment at a rate of 3% of the mass) to obtain a darker shade that contrasts with the white of the rest of the façade. Endnotes

1 BARTHES, Roland. Lo obvio y lo obtuso, Imágenes, gestos, voces. 1º edition. Barcelona: Ediciones Paidos. 1986. P.257. ISBN: 84-7509-400-7 PAGO DE CARRAOVEJAS WINERY. SPAIN This project is part of a series of works where we tried to look into a massiveness 2 MILIZIA, Francisco de. Arte de ver en las Bellas Artes del Diseño. 1º edition. which liberated space and turned what isn’t done into the main focus. The whole Madrid: Edited by the Royal Spanish Academy and the General council of Technical building is articulated by this blank space in the shape of patios, subtractions or Architecture of Spain. 1992. ISBN: 84-606-1095-0. voids. Daylight is distributed through indirect and singular openings. Structure 3 DELEUZE, Gilles y GUATTARI, Felix. Qué es la fi losofía. Kauf, Thomas (trad.) 1º edition. is resolved through big superfi cial components in the form of enclosure. This Barcelona: Editorial Anagrama. 1993. ISBN: 84-339-1364-6 bearing mass accumulation gives some freedom on façade to arrange shades 4 For the concept of autonomy and heteronomy in the works of art: ADORNO, Theodor and transparencies of a singular plastic value. Concrete, in different tones, makes W, Teoría estética, 1ª edition .Madrid: Taurus Ediciones, S.A. 1980. Pgs.: 85,224 and possible that wished continuity on which to open signifi cant voids. 329.ISBN: 84-306- 1150- 9. The whole proposal for the extension of Pago de Carraovejas sought to keep the old premises where the winery was born and envelop them with the new constructions. Its 5 To get a clear and effi cient of how to use the proportion with the effect of achieving good acoustic conditions see: “annex 1 complement of tonalityÐ en: DAUMAL hillside location allows a gravity-fl ow winery. Grapes are received at the upper fl oor, DOMÉNECH, Francesc. Arquitectura acústica Poética y diseño. . 1º edition. Barcelona: fermentation takes place at the intermediate level and both aging and shipment are Ediciones UPC, 2002. ISBN: 84-831- 638- 9 located at the lower one. Thus, premises for wine aging, in white concrete, are buried in the slope, while the representative ones, in grape colour concrete, spring up to catch the 6 To clarify the stages of modern technique see p. 40 of: HEIDEGGER, Martin. stunning landscape dominated by Peñafi el Castle, just in the middle of winery’s vineyards. Conferencias y artículos. 1º edition. Barcelona: Ediciones del Serbal.1994., p. 40. Visitors and administration buildings constitute the external image of the winery. They ISBN: 84-762 8- 143- 9 use the topography of the site to articulate a set of outdoor spaces at different levels. 7 ADORNO, cited work: p. 281. This way it’s possible to differentiate accesses according to production necessities. Wide terraces and cantilevers placed between two parallel planes, which form the 8 Of Sota’s works, apart from the gymnasium of the Maravillas college could be considered related to the line of single-family homes by Mr. Valera and the building for classes and façades, give shade to the glass enclosure. Views are lead and frame from these viewing seminars of the University of Seville. See: DE LA SOTA, Alejandro. Alejandro de la Sota decks, showing a surrounding landscape delimited by architecture. Arquitecto 2nd edition .Madrid: Editorial Pronaos. 1997. ISBN: 84-85941-25-X. A homogeneous fi nishing, concrete coloured in red-wine, unifi es different uses and gives some warmth both inside and outside. A Bayer pigment was added to a 9 ADORNO, cited work: p. 30. prescribed concrete mix at a rate of 2%, a percentage given by the manufacturer after 10 ADORNO, cited work: P. 329. some research. Mixing water was purifi ed by osmosis in order to avoid effl orescences. 11 In the fi xed sense for the defi nition that is found in the III annex .See: DAUMAL, cited work. Another important detail was using concrete dobies coloured in the same tone so no p.330. marks were left after removing formworks. Oak wood from barrels spreads across the building covering ceilings and fl oors 12 To go in depth into the relation between the garden and the music see the end of chapter of non-industrial spaces. XXII. Entre el Albaicín y la Alhambra. ARNAU, Joaquín. Espacios para la música. 1ª edición. The project incorporates simple energy saving resources such as sheets of water, Murcia: Nausícaä Edición Electrónica, s.l.2005. ISBN: 84- 96114929 ecological roofs, natural materials, adjustable external solar shades, thick walls 13 ADORNO, cited work: P. 322. and ventilated ceilings. 14 The idea of Autotelico is extracted from Antonio Miranda and is in line with “autonomy” in Adorno. See p.353 in: MIRANDA, Antonio. Ni robot, ni bufón, Manual para la crítica de DUTCH EMBASSY IN ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA arquitectura.1ª.Madrid: Ediciones Cátedra, S.A., 1999. ISBN: 84-376-1771-5. Silvia Blanco Agüeira 15 The perception is defi ned with precision and its development in its relation with the art in Cesuga-University College Dublin DELEUZE, cited work .p.165. 16 Filled walls according to its defi nition in chapter IX-“of the walls” and fi gure 3 of the lamina II Accustomed as we are to the incorporation of colour in concrete, we do not stop to of book I of the four books of architecture of Adres Paladio,vicentino.Seer:PALLADIO,Andrea. measure their importance as a source of architectural expression in all its shades Los cuatro libros de arquitectura-facsímil de la edición de Joseph Francisco Ortiz y Sanz-.2nd and scales. But the truth is that its role provokes a debate on its primacy in current edition Barcelona: editorial Alta Fulla, 1987.p.12. ISBN: 84-86556-16-4. construction or its less expressive power with respect to the use of raw concrete. 123

ENGLISH TEXT In the Dutch Embassy in Ethiopia, one gazes across herbaceous fi elds and orange groves, lean slightly to create an uneven surface on which a game of light and shadows is a complete range of shades that re-interpret architectural and indigenous memories. accentuated, avoiding the use of standardised measures. Since the direct use of the concrete colouring technique on site began in the eighties Thus the Chroma is introduced into this work without restrictions, with aggressive of the last century, numerous authors have turned to it as a source of inexhaustible textures on the exterior and brighter, more polished on the interior. However, a direct resources and in addition, repairing it in the shared vibrations and feelings arising protest is noticed, none contained the traces of the work, which resembles more a from the use of colours far removed from monochromatic neutrality. In the present song lyric than information. And this, despite the provocative display at its western case, the entire building lives in colour, in part because it uses an art relationship with façade of the disconcerting frames that appear to simulate the problems coming from history that evokes ancient Ethiopian buildings drilled of the basaltic rock, specifi cally, the adhesion of the concrete to the formwork, thus tearing the already not very neat direct references are found in the set of underground churches located in the hills of program of the mold. And so, the skin abruptly reveals the condition of a material Lalibela. The interest in these totemic and silent incarnations raised in the thin line that showing the uncertainty in the work and is also measured by the execution procedure. separates us from the unreal, is present in the massive walls, layered and with intense In any case, the enclosure of the identical color to the land turns the Ambassador’s colour, like the cut shapes of the embassy FIG 01. In fact, the volume that contains it- residence and the Chancellery in a homogeneous and regular fi gure that appears to long and horizontal- seems to perforate the ground towards the east, like a sharp knife. alienate the footprints of the small scale to infl uence a compact and content volume. The center of the plot where this building stands, is located on the outskirts of the And those marks or program in the enclosure that try to reveal the violence of stripping, capital, Addis Ababa, and consists of several acres of eucalyptus forest, whose tops precipitation of grain, dumping the muddy material and its subsequent desiccation, draw a tangle of dark shadows over the area. The three houses for staff members as are removed by the dyed texture. In short, the sensitive witnesses of the labour of the well as the gatehouse to the complex-camoufl aged with the colours of the Dutch fl ag material, usually seen as unpleasant because they show the fl aws and accidents in the -are situated along the wall that borders the property. The difference in height, due to construction, are here presented, diluted and spread over red earth tones, enhancing the stepped land, makes it easy for these outlying buildings to rise on small terraces the mineral confusion that is the subject of the material. to facilitate the unobstructed view of the occupants. And yet, for years, the trace has been an added value for the concrete and As for the Embassy, the long and narrow volume of concrete, topped by a large avoiding the problem of aging, but this material usually does not produce beautiful cantilever, houses both public units as well as the private residence of the Dutch remains. However, in the Dutch Embassy in Addis Ababa, the authors succeed in diplomatic representative. In the same spirit with which the building becomes showing the layers of time and stop them at the surface. The architects obviously part of landscape architecture, the environment is incorporated into the spatial enamored by the material, make the building, half buried in the ground, half and constructive domain. It speaks the language of the land running through the elevated above the main entrance reveal an ambiguous aspect: at the same time building in the area that serves as a link between the public and private areas, ancient and contemporary. Over time, the embassy will become a beautiful, serene and also supports the winding road that runs through the terrain from north to and mystical ruin due to that slow breath that bestows on its dissolving traces. It is south, connecting the new buildings. In the building’s interior, conventional offi ces, the poetics of colour that drive them. irregular spaces and bright rooms alternate around a dark central corridor. The site of the Dutch embassy on the outskirts of Adis Abeba consists of fi ve hectares In the exterior, a walk offers an alternative to the linear and covered route of the of eucalyptus woods, dropping steeply into a valley. The historic villa on the edge of the interior, crossing the fi ctitious marshes of the roof and connecting the offi ces to site has been expanded, while the embassy and residence of the ambassador, three the residence. In any case, the structure of the complex is extremely simple, being homes for members of staff and the entrance are new. The new buildings blend with the the encounter between the darkened corridor and spaces that open up to those landscape, with a winding road as the connecting element. that generate an unexpected variety of environments. It is not the same to climb the The gatehouse, camoufl aged in the colours of the Dutch fl ag, peers over the wall on ramp that connects with the upper offi ces in semi-darkness, and rising depending the street side. The extension of the villa, which is occupied by the Vice Ambassador, on the slope of the land, than to place yourself in the lit upstairs setback of the has been placed beneath the existing house, which now seems to fl oat above the upper fl oor, or take shelter under the cantilever that protects the façade. A dozen garden. The three homes for staff are situated behind a wall, next to the wall that different spatial situations can be described that arise from both the central hallway surrounds the site. The difference in gradient means that they are placed one behind connecting the adjacent building and the encounter with the slope itself FIG 02. the other like terraces, and that all residents enjoy an unobstructed view. The opening of the uneven gaps in an apparently random layout helps to confi gure a The embassy with ambassador’s residence is situated in the centre of the terrain scenic interior that is consistent with the idea the project generated: the evocation in a long, horizontal volume that seems to have been carved out of the landscape, like of mysterious buildings linked to the Ethiopian motherland. a traditional Ethiopian church carved out of the rock. The outside walls are of rough Ignoring the challenges and efforts of those who came before is irreverent, therefore concrete in the same red colour as the ground. the architects decided to turn those episodes of yesterday into an arsenal for designing The landscape intersects the volume on the borderline of the two functions. their proposal. The magnifi cent underground churches of Lalibela and the qualities of At this point the road embedded in the landscape passes over the building, before the stone characteristic of Ethiopia- reddish-basaltic rock- have inspired to provide a dropping to the covered visitors entrance of the residence. The roof, that comes into stunning image, but at the same time, coarse and primitive to the embassy building. sight at the moment that the road intersects the building, has been implemented as Patios bored in the roof link the interior and the exterior of the building. And concrete a shallow pond, a reference to the Netherlands in the uneven Ethiopian landscape. external walls share the same color as the land of the area. Also, with the aim of The embassy is simple in structure, with offi ces on either side of a central obtaining a very simple piece, the bearing capacity is allocated to the outer envelope corridor. This corridor rises with the gradient of the site. The entrance is situated which is completed with intermediate walls of the same material and with less than at the lowest point of the corridor, at the end. There is enough space here for an a seven meter span. With the same aim, pre-stressed concrete slabs are designed, intermediate level, where the ambassador’s offi ce is situated. It is connected via that in the case of the roof are thicker to withstand the landscape of water designed a stairway to the rooftop path leading to the residence. as a reference to Holland FIG 03, a concept that is maintained during the wet season The residence has two storeys. The upper fl oor contains the formal reception but in the dry season, the terrace turns into a dry riverbed. rooms, while the lower one contains the private rooms. Light shafts and patios In general, concrete technology is simple, except for the cantilever of the entrance, link the areas inside and outside the building. As a result of the difference in which is projected eleven meters above the access and is topped with a double curve gradient of the site, both fl oors are at ground level, so that they can be used and in a hyperbolic paraboloid shape. What is also unusual is the woodwork of the entirely independently of one another. Three concealed stairways – one for the windows, especially designed for this project, and whose openings to the outside ambassador, one for his family, and one for staff – form the internal routes are carried out through a push stroke and slide back system. However, this unique between the fl oors. mechanism proves impractical because of the heavy rains, and so the windows must be closed during downpours, limiting the natural ventilation that the building enjoys. To overcome this setback, the use of unconventional frames and glazing in the elevation FOSC HOUSE, SAN PEDRO. CHILE get the effect sought after by the authors, also origin of the project: to minimise This project is both an exercise of formal and structural concentration. the impact of new construction on the environment, provide maximum privacy to the The dense program of this house for a family with four children (fi ve bedrooms, building and turn it into a huge red mass that emerges from the green meadow. three bathrooms, family room, studio, etc) is fi tted between a regular interior Certainly, Dick van Gameren and Bjarne Mastenbroek knew how to handle coloured duct and the surface of the largest legally possible exterior wall. The decision of concrete as a communication tool. In this work it is impossible to take it lightly, concentrating the entire program in a three storey prism on the highest point of the colour has a life of its own; it catches the eye and remains in the retina unperturbed the land so as to have vistas beyond the trees located on the lowest area of the for a time. The proportion of pigment used -ferric oxide- is 1:20, while the rough texture plot. Bedrooms occupy the fi rst and third fl oors. The intermediate stage, a podium 124 of the surface is due to deliberate imbalances in the wooden formwork. The planks leveled with the natural access to the site, is occupied by the social and gathering

EN BLANCO · Nº 10 · 2012 · LOS COLORES DEL HORMIGÓN activities. The continuous peripheral layout of the rooms is organized around a the volumes are articulated in this space providing a complementary structure vertical circulations shaft that links in a spiral-like way and without corridors, all at the same time, opposite to the architecture and vegetation. Thus nature is the rooms. This vertical duct is occupied by a thin folded steel sheet with wooden introduced as a fi lter to protect and dialogue with the geometry of the museum, steps that rests in a central structural spine. The construction is a monolithic piece as well as marking the scale of the set. of concrete dyed green with a water repellent coat made of Copper Oxide. The “When architecture is completely abstract, made of walls, boxes or glass panels, it openings, distributed according to orientation and programmatic needs, establish is more diffi cult to say whether something is in or out of scale, because everything is varying densities in the wall that wraps this silhouette. This wall is technically based on the positive / negative relationship.” 3 composed of two independent reinforced concrete walls (one of them structural) The shadows of the trees on the built volumes produce a changing perception of with an insulation layer in between. The fabrication of this wall was done in situ the architectural set that is picturesquely situated and treated by the architect from with the simultaneous pouring of concrete into both walls. The owners of the house, that very British sensibility. Remember that the artist had culminated his prestige in equally involved in contemporary art, once showed us the rusted and aged pedestals London’s Saatchi Collection. of the monuments found in local squares. The oxide drippings, we thought, print the surfaces with an elusive natural quality, halfway between mineral and vegetal. Quinto de lago, again The building, as Kenneth Frampton argues, lies in the architect’s career in a stage of reunion with his educational backgrounds where a “revitalised rationalism” CASA DAS HISTORIAS. PAULA REGO MUSEUM, CASCAIS. PORTUGAL was apparent. The geometry of the volumes, the opacity of its façades, and the A Tale about Colour and Concrete in the Work of Souto Moura solution of key domestic program allows us to connect with one of his fi rst works in Quinta do Lago. Thus, an enclosure wall defi nes the set containing the exhibition Maite Palomares Figueres y Ana Portalés Mañanós program, organised by the layout of the rooms around an inner emptiness. UPV. Department of Architectural Composition y UPV. Department of Urbanism Faced with his usual way to solve projects, with a web of orthogonal lines and Paula Rego is an extremely important exponent of contemporary painting just as planes, Souto de Moura in this case, distributes the functional program with the Portuguese Eduardo Souto de Moura is to architecture. And so, the Paula Rego relatively independent volumes of rectangular prisms. They house the exhibition museum could mean a very qualifi ed chapter in Portuguese culture. halls that with their different heights organise part of the set. The museum spaces Built to honor the artist, the Casa das Historias houses a collection of drawings, are arranged around the concept of the enclosure and are organsied into two levels. prints and collages by Rego, along with a collection of his on loan paintings. Just The main program is on the ground fl oor and the basement is assigned to storage as the artist’s work is defi ned as provocative art from which we construct a visual and public toilets. The café and outdoor patio defi ne an open area incorporating the narrative about human relationships, the museum of Souto de Moura is also landscape, while the three rooms for the permanent collection form an enclosure provocative in the architect’s career. In this project, he designed his fi rst art gallery around an open courtyard that open some of the spaces. Distributed in low prisms evoking a cultural chest, in Boullée style of the Cenotaph pyramidal. and, as the architect suggests, each of these smaller rooms also have an opening to The trajectory of Souto de Moura reveals the Paula Rego building as representing the exterior that lets you enjoy a fl eeting and dramatic view of the green landscape a turning point both for being the fi rst museum of new construction and for the surrounding the building, an already advanced design strategy in Braganza. The color used in its realization. heart of the museum is occupied by the temporary exhibition hall and, as such, is The beginnings of Souto de Moura in the architecture of museums takes us to built with a blind volume larger in dimensions both in plan and elevation. Around the the intervention in architectural heritage such as the remodeling of the Grao Vasco perimetre, and like a belt that borders the main program, offi ces and warehouses Museum in Viseu (1993) and the intervention in the customs building in Oporto are located on the limit of the border while the auditorium is on the southern (1993-2002), which recuperate the character of the historic building from the details front, next to the entrance. With regard to the section of the auditorium and for the of the construction. In both projects (very respectful of the spirit of the original similarity of its traces, it would set a reference for the conference rooms of the Casa architecture) the trace of the action focuses on the design of architectural objects, das Artes in Oporto, one of the architect’s fi rst projects. as if they were pieces of furniture. The curtain wall that defi nes and delimits the perimetre enclosure borders all Another episode of interest in the work of Souto de Moura is the group of new public accesses, auditorium and offi ces. The two pyramidal volumes start at this construction museums, designed but not built: the Museum of Contemporary Art point and focus on the entrance, introduce the vertical component to the building in Rome (1998) 1, the Surrealism museum in Vila Nova de Famalicão (2000) or the and incorporate a zenithal illumination that dramatically qualifi es the interior of the museum for the Ship Railway in Porto (2001). Although some pre-existing projects library. Offsetting the strong dynamism of the volumes an imaginary horizon line, are included, they are perfectly identifi able in the architecture of his career and located 2.20 meters in height, frames the lintels of all exterior and interior spaces, determined by “the calm, systematic and unchanged order. The latter ... aspires to setting the ground to the silhouette of the set. dominate the situation with authority …” 2, using the words of Eduard Bru. A particular case would be the Museum of Contemporary Art of Braganza Technique, colour and texture (2002-2008) where different strategies and the novel architecture of Souto de Moura The color palette used by Souto de Moura is generally characterised by its colour are advanced. An exercise in hybridisation in the restoration of an eighteenth limitation. Mainly reduced to black and white as a base, also served as the colour of century building is carried out, where the permanent collection is housed and the material but, in some of his works, we fi nd the occasional use of certain colours: the construction of a new extension is designed for temporary exhibitions. In the yellow on the walls of emerging volumes accompanying the entrance to the Faculty solution for the new museum we see the use of resources close to the architecture of Geological Sciences of Aveiro or green in the glass building on the campus of later used by Alvaro Siza in the Paula Rego Museum, such as the incorporation of Novartis. However, in the Museum of Paula Rego, the use of color is generalised to a large skylight dominating the main room, or the strategic placement of spaces all its covering and volumetric formalisation of the museum and is reinforced by the drilled in the predominant exhibition volume, allowing for the prediction of an uniform pigmentation of their façades. Thus, the color becomes a hallmark in this agreed exterior space. work, being even a new element in the architecture of Souto. Finally, in the Casa das Historias, the traces of change are evident. Facing The distinctive red outer coating on the inside contains another covering. the actions based on the detail of patrimonial interventions and unlike the Facing the dense materiality of the epidermis the museum interior is solved, silent museum architecture of unfinished projects, Souto de Moura has built an aseptically, like a delicate veil, in white, providing support to the paintings of Paula expressive new museum in Cascais. In a natural environment and conceptually Rego. The abstract character of the interior, contrasts sharply with the powerful different from the preceding ones it gives special importance to this work with red concrete enclosure. And so, using three monochrome and continuous layers the addition of a determinant red colour and with the role of the significant the user accesses the museum gradually. Green, red and white are the colours that pyramidal volumes, results in a unique example in his career, characterized by respectively defi ne the transition from interior to exterior. Thus, each of these its minute details. three colours characterise the different sequences of the museum. The different way to understand the place that in the Cascais project, Souto de Concrete is a moldable material, and perhaps this is one of the main reasons Moura exhibits seem to refer to certain seventeenth century French landscapes. why it was chosen for the realisation of the museum. Furthermore, the laying of the “Las cenizas de Focion recogidas por su viuda” (1648) Nicolas Poussin develops a material, from the use of formwork, somehow recalls the handmade construction story in a landscape where there are natural and architectural elements. In the of the walls of mud clay typical in the soils of Cascais and Portuguese architecture. museum of Paula Rego, Eduardo Souto de Moura taking the background scene, With concrete the architect moulds the unique volumes of the museum and with the which lends to the wooded site, built an architecture that fi ts into the void between use of the wooden formwork stamps its own materiality. Tradition and constructive the ground and the tops of the vegetation. With a marked and oblong component, modernity are strategies used in the construction of this building, added to the 125

ENGLISH TEXT use of the red colour of the earth, converting a coloured concrete architecture Inner walls were painted before the roof was built, so radiation darkened the into an apparent construction of mud that takes on the character of vernacular outcome. Once the desired colour was ready, spaces were roofed using hollow-core architecture. Despite the rough appearance sought for the museum, the elaborate planks. Later, the underside of the planks was also painted with water and ferrous construction of detail, evident in the studied layout of the formwork boards prints sulphate, but using a higher proportion of it since these walls wouldn’t get any solar an identifying stamp on the work of Souto de Moura. radiation. Both walls and slabs are fi nished with a double layer of a matt transparent Technique, color and texture have become an artifi cial material in an organic acrylic polyurethane paint (300 gr/m3 each layer). fragment in the landscape, characterized by a dialogue of contrasts between natural At the external side of walls polyethylene sheets were used at the areas in and artifi cial colors. contact with the ground. In order to guarantee waterproofi ng without modifying the colour and texture, a matt invisible hydrophobic impregnation (Sikagard 700S Endnotes or similar) was applied on areas exposed to the elements. Two layers were applied using a spray method (0,5 kg/m2 each layer). 1 The award was given to the expressive project by Zaha Hadid inaugurated in May of 2010. Pavement is made of 3 layers of self-levelling concrete (t=3mm) with a Nº 7 of “En Blanco” magazine dedicated the cultural spaces to the article “Maxxi, rails transparent polyurethane sealing, both colourless and matt. This concrete is for art”, analyzing said contest. coloured with a water and ferrous sulphate dissolution. First, a reinforced concrete 2 BRU, Eduard. “Souto de Moura in three times”. 2G. International Magazine of fl oor slab (t=15cm) was built and smoothed with a power trowel machine. Remaining Architecture, 1998, Nº 5, page 14 fl ush with the pavement surface, corten steel plates (t=10mm) embedded in the slab 3 GRANDE, Nuno. “Una conversación con Eduardo Souto de Moura”. El Croquis, 2009, Nº are used at the joints. 146, pages 19-20

4 FRAMPTON, Kenneth “The leap of the house”. AV Monografías, 2011, Nº 151, page 14 URBAN VILLA BEAUMONT. LAUSANNE. SWITZERLAND The urban villa is situated at the top of the Campagne de Beaumont park, a country I was lucky to choose the site, what increased my responsibility after the painter estate constructed in 1850. Paula Rêgo had chosen me as projectist. The site was a wood, all surrounded The compact building with its punctured window “holes” reinterprets characteristic by a wall, with a big empty in the middle, some former club tennis courts, that qualities of the 19th century buildings. For example, the mineral washed concrete had disappeared with the Carnation Revolution. With the trees survey, especially façade uses a colour that blends in with the surrounding vegetation. Since the their tops, I have developed a set of volumes with different heights, to respond to concrete surfaces of each individual apartment are treated differently, the typologically the plurality of the program. The boxes distribution works like a mineral positive, interwoven character of the interior can also be perceived on the exterior. from the negative that remains from the tree top perimeter. This “Yang” and “Yin” The communally used covered interior atrium at the core of the solid construction game between artifact and nature, helped me to decide the exterior material, guides daylight inside the building and acts as a point of reference for the fl oor plans red concrete, the opposite color to the green wood, that meanwhile decreased by of the four interlocking residential units. The apartments have the characteristic botanic prophylaxis. As I didn’t want the building to be a neutral sum of boxes, of detached single-family homes because of an innovative distribution of rooms, each I have established a hierarchy, introducing two big pyramids (skylights) in the with an individualised quality. For instance the living rooms are distributed throughout entrance axis, that are the library and the café, where it wasn’t indifferent the entire height of the building, thereby benefi ting from the different views and sun Alcobaça’s kitchen, some houses from arch. Raul Lino and some illustrations from levels. Each apartment has an independent entrance from the courtyard, a direct Boullé. It was my concerning that every exhibition room had always an opening to connection to the garage and a private garden plot. the exterior , to the garden. It’s never too much to oppose the abstract and totally The principle of the fl oor plan concept combines the advantages of individual living artifi cial reality of contemporary art to the daily and ruff reality that surround us. with communal togetherness: an innovative and well-conceived answer to urban densifi cation that revitalises the idea of “living together”. “ROCA DELS MOROS” CAVE PAINTING INTERPRETATION CENTRE IN COGUL, LÉRIDA. SPAIN NURSERY “LES GRAINES D’ÉTOILES“ - PARK DURANNE - The aim of “Roca dels Moros” interpretation centre in Cogul is to give to visitors AIX EN PROVENCE. FRANCE the optimum conditions to appreciate its cave paintings. Architecture appears Poetry of color and magic of the site. bare, rough, extreme and buried to offer us a series of crevice-like itineraries Under the light of the ‘midi’, the painterly colors of the Provence are revealed here as a towards daylight, towards the Roca, drifting us apart from the contemporary bustle matter of choice of the spatial construction of a highly emotional program - a nursery. throughout the tour. The site of Duranne is sensitive with large trees. It is talking about the environment The building is placed on a former quarry and it acts as gate and hinge to reach of the plant world and the distant landscape. (La Sainte Victoire). the paintings. From underground, we are led to an elementary space, almost a One volume, cubist, yellow ocher matte signalize, in the middle of the Aix cave, strained by crevices and daylight wells. A concrete volume holds the basic countryside, the presence of children. In the heart of an educational garden, the functions of an interpretation centre while a zigzag path sets off from the building nursery “Les graines d’étoiles“ (The seeds of stars) is exposing. The project focus and leads to the Roca. on verticalization, the psychomotor development of children, from work based on At the same time, in order to not only minimize its impact but also to improve its light and color. state, architecture is conceived as part of the landscape. Indeed, it’s impossible to In the process of creating space, the architecture of this equipment includes dissociate the building from the site where it is, because it has been formed through color and plant components as related to the program, giving them spatial functions landscape elements: a rock indicating the entrance, walls, lines, the slope, the roof, and expressive values. Combined with the light, the color is for the operation of the the surroundings, the sights… nursery the resource in the characterization of emotional nature of learning and The structure of the building is made of concrete (HI HA25 with B500 S steel) enlightenment of children. With its psychophysiological qualities, color has the retaining walls upon a strip foundation. A structure of metallic HEB pillars upon ability to express feelings. in-situ concrete walls has been built at big glazed areas. Slabs are made of hollow-core planks following the direction of the shorter span, except at the intermediate level where the slab above toilets is a unidirectional one and made of freestanding joists resting on a perimeter wall. A crawl space was also built using “cavity” formwork system to create a ventilated room for routing electrical and air-conditioning utilities. All concrete is exposed. Formworks with pine wood slats of different length and 10 to 12cm wide were use to build the walls, leaving a wooden texture on the surface. Subsequently, after the hardening and deshuttering of concrete, walls were painted with dissolution of ferrous sulphate in water to provide a rusty colour. Several tests with different sulphate proportions were done in order to choose the fi nal colour, taking into 126 account that sulphate dissolution would get darker due to solar radiation.

EN BLANCO · Nº 10 · 2012 · LOS COLORES DEL HORMIGÓN