A series of cultural (Caixaforum) and scientific and educational (CosmoCaixa) centers are located in various cities in Spain, funded by the non-profit foundation La Caixa. So, the Caixaforum in Madrid was built by Herzog & de Meuron, and the entrance area of the center in Barcelona - a rebuilt textile factory - was designed by Arata Isozaki. The seventh cultural center opened its doors to visitors at the end of June: it was erected in Zaragoza by the Estudio Carme Pinós bureau.
The task of the architects was to create a building that would “feel like a city”, firstly, due to the many different public spaces that he created. Secondly, it should correlate with perspective urban views, creating the same reflective space from the outside as the viewer feels when at the exhibition inside.
The two main volumes were raised above the ground, which made it possible to free the first floor, filling it with more transparent and open spaces: there is an entrance area to the museum and a souvenir shop, and the city park passes under the building, leading to an underground auditorium for 300 people. This square becomes a link between the city and the museum, blurring the boundaries between them.
The volumes overhanging the park cantilever are spaced vertically so as not to overlap each other's views of the city. These two parts of the building, which contain multifunctional halls with a capacity of 250 people and exhibition spaces, are connected by escalators. The restaurant, located at the very top, offers a panoramic view of the city center, while the external terraces are facing the side of the EXPO 2008 exhibition complex:
Zaha Hadid's pavilion bridge and Enrique de Teresa's Water Tower.
The massive structures supporting the consoles are hidden behind 1,600 perforated metal sheets, the geometric pattern of which is illuminated by LEDs at night.
The new cultural center is an urban space, clothed in an architectural form. Outside - the square and garden that it forms, inside - the places for all social events that the city can offer: performances, lectures, film screenings, conferences, concerts and exhibitions. And even escalators, opening new and unexpected views of the surrounding buildings to visitors on each floor, become a kind of vertical projection of an ordinary city street.
