area 111 | zero volume

architect: Vora arquitectura

location: Badalona, Spain

year: 2009

The space of the square was conceived originally as a consequence of the differences of alignment between the market, the Marquès de Sant Mori Avenue and Quevedo Street, a residual space. It should be borne in mind that this was a service space without access to the building. The subsequent interventions did not change this secondary space character, disconnected from the adjacent spaces. A new access door to the building on this side was later formed, which through time became the main entrance, so the square had to be reorganised.
In spite of originally being a space without identity, the successive transformations of the neighborhood in social standard, public facilities and infrastructures have given it a new presence. The intervention is a process of “emptying“ the space. Where before there was a superimposition of fixed elements (walls, street lamps, stairs, benches, shrubs...) now there is geometry, flows of people. It is a dynamic space. The trees have been restricted to the perimeter streets, outside the limits of the square. The lighting has been reduced to one column with luminaries that sits outwith the triangle. The use of urban furniture has been substituted by a fold in the ground plane that forms both a platform and a bench. Formal simplicity (single slope). The new square responds to a great number of circulation flows. The building, with its main access to the north, generates the entry and exit on market days. The La Salut Civic Centre (on the first floor) is accessed from the existing ramp. There is also the importance of the main cross, the convergence of Marquès de Sant Antoni Avenue and Quevedo Street, which includes underground parking and bus stops. On the pavements, the exits of the L9 underground have recently been installed. We opted to simplify to the maximum the form of the square, reducing it to an inclined plane defined by its triangular limits. In this way the stepped platforms, the low concrete wall that closed the square and the ventilation outlet that served the underground shop units, have been removed (with the duct being relocated below the ramp). It is an isotropic space where itineraries are not prioritised and where free flow is facilitated. Rich composition (mosaic of colors). The space responds to the different uses that can be accommodated; circulation space, encounter, meet, play... On a bigger scale it is about the confluence of two neighborhoods (La Salut and Llefià). The project also represents the social diversity of the neighborhood, with the high immigrant population, both recent and established. From the limits of the triangular space an abstract composition is defined by geometry, a grid above the inclined plane which reflects the complexity of the context. A composition of colors that confers character and singularity has been superimposed. To reinforce the abstract effect drainage has been solved with some slot drains integrated into the grid.

Vora arquitectura was founded in 2000 in Lisbon by Pere Buil and Jordi Fornells, who were joined by Toni Riba in 2004. We are a practice of young architects who studied architecture at the Escola Tècnica Superior d'Arquitectura de Barcelona [etsab]. We are located in Barcelona and Lisbon, while the majority of our work is in Catalonia, we also have projects in Portugal.
We work on building and urban design projects of different scales and typologies. Our built work to date has received several awards and been published in magazines all over the world. Our approach to design and the building process is both abstract and material. We are interested in reduction and materiality as a responde to present challenges.
Some of our most relevant works to date are the Can Ricart sport center in Barcelona (Bonaplata award 2007), a single-family house in Almeria (arco young architect award 2006-07), the “la bombolla” ephemeral pavillion for the lleida’s international animated film festival, the refurbishment of Alkântara dance productions in Lisbon. In construction we have a social housing block for 30 units in Ibiza, the urban + landscape design of the rambla sant francesc in Vilafranca del Penedès, and a rural hotel in Arraiolos, Portugal.