Herzog de Meuron:

Forum 2004 Building and Plaza

Barcelona, Spain
Competition: 2000
Project: 2001-2002
Realization: 2002-2004

When we started in January 2001 with the design for the building to house the Barcelona Forum 2004,
the site was a so-called “terrain vague”, urbanistically speaking a “no-man’s land”, with industrial
installations, a residual water treatment plant and a petrol station. While it had some elements of
exterior design, such as a sculpture that functioned as a fountain and a small park, there was still a lot of
open, vacant land. According to the established schedule, in a period of three years, this entire area was
to become part of the architecturally organized and well-defined city. The aim was to convert the chosen
zone into the most important and significant district of 21st century Barcelona.
The site is located at the very end of the Avenida Diagonal, where it meets the Mediterranean coast and
connects to a newly created gigantic artificial platform, spanning over the Ronda Litoral.

Barcelona is a European metropolis that through its history, climate and the customs of its inhabitants, is
predestined to make use of its exterior space, according to its respective configuration, as a living urban
location of its social interrelations. For this reason, we decided instead of planning the building as an
independent object within an open space, we would propose a building that generates and structures
this open space.

To allow for the maximum combination of functions, maximum flexibility and spatial interaction, we also
decided that the program, such as the auditorium with 3,200 seats, large exhibition areas, foyer spaces,
small administration areas and the restaurant should be organized horizontally.

With these ideas, the elevated flat triangular body emerged almost spontaneously, because it maximizes
the possible footprint by forming an extensive cover for the plaza and perfectly expresses the specific
situation of the land it occupies between the branches of the right-angled Cerda Grid and the Avenida
Diagonal.

The open public space that emerges under the triangular body is thought as a hybrid space, a mixture of
several urban typologies. A series of courtyards that cut through the elevated volume as well as the
artificial platform establish multiple relations between the street level and the other levels of the
building, while always permitting new angles of vision and a changing play of light. The shape of these
courtyards derived again from the juxtaposition of the two directions of the grid of Cerda and the cut of
the Diagonal.

In order to generate and maintain vitality and interrelation, additional program units are included, such
as an open market space with a large fountain, a place for relaxation and meditation around a dripping
water courtyard, a small intimate chapel, a bar, a kiosk and other simple facilities that complement the
conference and exhibition centre. The buildings satisfy the needs of all social levels: for tourists and also
for the citizens of the city, for culture enthusiasts and also for conference attendees, for young people
and for older people.

The interiors of the auditorium and the exhibition are designed as hybrid spaces, not only blurring the
boundaries between exterior and interior, but which also easily adapt to the constantly changing
program. The auditorium is neither a bare conference centre nor a philharmonic music hall; the
exhibition area is neither a predictable convention centre nor a classical museum space. The atmosphere
of these spaces will change with the program and the building will redefine itself accordingly.

The conception of a building with a coupling of interior and exterior space, as well as the flexibility of the
program responds to the need for social durability from the collective point of view. The result is a
building that is topography.

Herzog & de Meuron, 2004

https://www.herzogdemeuron.com/projects/190-forum-2004-building-and-plaza/
MIRALLES/TAGLIABUE:

KÁLIDA SANT PAU CENTRE

LOCATION: Barcelona, Spain
CLIENT: Fundació Kálida, Nous Cims, Fundació Privada de l’Hospital de la Santa
Creu i Sant Pau
DATE: 2019
STATUS: BUILT
TYPOLOGY: HEALTH LANDSCAPE

The Kálida Centre is a space of emotional, social and practical support for cancer
patients and people around them. It is a home opened to everyone, where qualified
professionals offer their help. A house to meet other people, a house where to find
a quiet retreat or to have a cup of tea.

The plot is located between the new hospital and the original Art Nouveau
buildings. It is parallel to a new road defined by the special urban plan of the area
and follows the orthogonal plan of the original project. The project includes a small
400 m2 building and a wide garden within the general green area of the building
complex. The fundamental idea of the project is to plant some new coloured
flowers in the garden of the original hospital, and so the centre is designed as a
garden pavilion where the boundaries between interior and exterior blur and vary.
The building offers privacy, light, retreat and protection around the garden.
The building is organised on two floors of about 200 m2. The ground floor is
situated at a lower level than the complex around. It is conceived as a sequence of
flexible spaces, opened to a garden protected by walls, pergolas and vegetation
that can accommodate varied activities. In the ground floor, we can find the
kitchen, a hall and a high ceiling dining room, a small library and a multipurpose
room. Every room is surrounded by greenery, and the situation of the patios, trees
and pergolas is meant to hide the surrounding hospital facilities and to respect the
privacy of the Kálida Centre users. Here on the ground floor is the main access of
the building, which has a direct connection to the oncology area of the nearby
hospital through a paved area between them. This area also allows access to
firefighters in cases of emergency.

The rooms on the upper floor, situated at the same height that the rest of the
complex, lay around the double-height over the dining room. The façades facing
the Art Nouveau buildings towards the south are more transparent but protected by
wooden blinds to ensure privacy. The building façade is a brick wall with glazed
ceramic insertions, put together in a variable composition of colours and textures.
The wall turns into a ceramic latticework to filter the Mediterranean sunlight, to
focus the views of the environment, to provide air circulation and to protect the
privacy of inner spaces.

The whole project has been inspired by the richness of materials, textures, colours,
geometries, drawings and greenery of the original Hospital complex. The architect
wanted to keep the full original language of Domènech i Montaner’s architecture
and so it is reflected in the new gardens, the façades and the roof design.

http://www.mirallestagliabue.com/project/kalida-sant-pau-centre/

BARCELONETA’S TERRACES
LOCATION: Barcelona, Spain
CLIENT: Gremi de Restauración de Barcelona
DATE: 2017
STATUS: IN DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
TYPOLOGY: COMMERCIAL

Following the studio’s investigation on the character and urban space that terraces
enliven in several European capitals, EMBT was commissioned the reimagining of
one of Barcelona’s most representative urban areas, the Barceloneta waterfront.
Benefitting from a privileged position immediately adjacent to the beach, the
terrace owners’ union agreed on a collective strive for quality and creativity, in
order to enrich the urban landscape and transform Barceloneta into an ‘area of
excellence’ within the city.

The project draws its inspiration from the maritime tradition of the neighbourhood,
historically the home of fishermen. Their fishing nets and typical boats, the  llaüts,
created a landscape of intertwining webs and sails, arranged freely along the
shore, accessible and open to all the citizens. The rhythmic distribution of vertical
masts on the sinuous backdrop of the sea was translated into the contemporary
image of pergolas and umbrellas providing shade to the terraces.
Providing the area with a strong identifiable character that pays homage to its
history was the main ambition, while also reinterpreting it to suit its modern and
flexible use, in terms of design as well as use of materials, sustainability and
attitude towards the public space.

GAS NATURAL FENOSA OFFICE BUILDING

LOCATION: Barcelona, Spain

CLIENT: Gas Natural SDG. SP Torre Marenostrum S.L.
DATE: 2007
STATUS: BUILT
TYPOLOGY: LANDSCAPE OFFICE

The new headquarters of Gas Natural is a tower of 22 stories, 86 meters high.

EMBT created this project for the company in the Barceloneta neighbourhood, very
close to the seafront. The project called to design a unique tower capable of
enriching the city skyline and also respecting the small dimensions of the buildings
that make up the district of Barceloneta, an area where fishermen families’ houses
coexist with five-story apartment blocks.

From the outset, the project was designed to be compatible with these two main
constraints. This meant planning for different volumes with different sizes and
characteristics that would still make up a definite unit. The work thus responds to
different scales and enables the establishment of a physical dialogue with the
nearby buildings. But it also rises up as a new city landmark. Finally, special
attention was given to the new exterior spaces.
http://www.mirallestagliabue.com/project/gas-natural-fenosa-office-building/