Rafael del Pino Auditorium and Office Building

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Project Name: Rafael del Pino Auditorium and Office Building
Construction year: 2008
Website: www.fundacionrafaeldelpino.es
Address: C/Fortuny 32 c/v Rafael Calvo , MADRID - Spain

Architect(s) : Rafael de La-Hoz Castanys (www.rafaeldelahoz.com)
Project Category: Cultural | Office

Latitude: 40.4343
Longitude: -3.69012

“It is about transforming a garden into an inhabited garden”

After the restoration of the palace designed by Salaberry in 1907 in the heart of the Paseo de la Castellana Street, a new building has been projected in the old garden.

The available space has been interpreted as the garden that it is, instead of treating it as just an ordinary plot of land.

Consequently, the project’s points of reference are not the heterogeneous architectures that surround it, not even the oldest of them (Salaberry’s palace), but rather the place where it is situated: a garden.

The aim is not just to replace the garden by a building but to transform the garden into an inhabited garden.

After transforming the existing plant layout into a sustaining geometry, the solid habitable space is inserted into it.

Rafael del Pino Auditorium & Office Building is a transparent, open and inspired by the garden that previously existed in the same space, the project exhibits a spectacular arboreal structure that supports and hugs the inhabitable body of the building on both sides.

Rafael de La-Hoz conceptually explains the project:

“The reference of the project is not the heterogeneous architecture that surrounds it, or the most long-lived –the palace- but rather its location: a garden.

Therefore, it is not about substituting a garden for a building, but rather about transforming a garden into an inhabitable garden.

By transforming the existing plant network into sustaining geometry, the inhabitable solidity is introduced.”

LOCATION

Located on a side street off of Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana Street, at number thirty-two of Fortuny Street, this 5000 m2 building is distributed throughout five floors, an attic and two levels underground, located in the old garden of the palace built by Salaberry in 1907.

STEEL ARBOREAL STRUCTURE

The project stands out for its steel arboreal structure that supports the structure of the building on both sides. This has been possible thanks to the application of new technology in laser cutting systems and the application of new computer systems and topography systems that allowed for its assembly as well as the curved and inclined shapes of its north facade, without a doubt, one of the outstanding features of the project.

TRANSPARENCY AND TRANSLUCENCY

Another remarkable characteristic is the transparency and translucency of the building. The described metallic structure and the use of concrete floor structures supported on the pillars allow for an absolute transparency of the 525 square meters of surface area on each floor. The absence of pillars in the center and the glass facades allow natural light to enter the interior, creating an open and transparent building.

AUDITORIUM

Based on the idea of transparency, the new Rafael del Pino Auditorium Building is located on the ground floor, with a capacity of 250 people and with views of the street, it will have the latest cutting-edge technology. Rafael del Pino Foundation wishes to use the Auditorium to contribute to the promotion of culture and knowledge in Spain in addition to offering a new place for debates in the city of Madrid.

Contributed by Rafael de La-Hoz Castanys