The customer was the Botín charity foundation, which operates throughout the country, but is based in Santander. The head of the future center will be the former director of the London Tate Modern gallery Vicente Todolí. Its task will be to connect at the center of the themes of art and education. Therefore, the project is not designed for the “Bilbao effect”: its purpose is a significant program of events, not an attraction. It is she who should attract 200 thousand visitors a year there.
The architectural component is deliberately modest. Since the construction site is the center of the city (the former port area, empty after the transition to container shipping), it was important to coordinate the construction with the surroundings. In addition, Renzo Piano followed the classic reconstruction scheme for old seaside cities: the highway running along the coast, cutting off the center from the sea, will be placed in a tunnel, and the park that existed next to it will be expanded on its roof.
The Botín Center will be built right next to the water. Its two-part volume (one streamlined building will house exhibition halls with a total area of 2500 m2, in the other - the auditorium of the educational center), when viewed from the city, will be hidden by the tree crowns of the park. 4-meter steel supports will raise it to the level of greenery, and the total height of 22 meters will not allow it to be seen among the treetops.
A network of wooden bridges and platforms will be built between the two parts of the building: a dynamic public space that makes the building attractive to citizens. The usual cafes, restaurant, bookstore, etc. will open on the ground floor.
The most important detail of the project will be the cladding of the facade of 360,000 white ceramic tiles, each the size of a human hand. On the "belly" of the center, they will be flat, on the sides - curved, and on the roof they will diverge "at the seams", giving access to sunlight. This organic detail is conceived by Piano as an analogue of human skin - a permeable, breathable shell; each tile acts as an analogue of a biological cell. From the sea side, the façade will be fully glazed so that visitors can admire the panorama of the Bay of Biscay.
The construction is due to be completed in 2014. The budget, fully funded by the Botín Foundation, is 77 million euros. In addition, an amount of $ 12.5 million will be allocated annually for the operation of the center.
N. F.
