Local Exhibition and Congress Centre in Ávila, Spain

Competition 2002. Honorable mention

The rugged and bare, lacking in buildings landscape of Ávila is the perfect frame for the city. From this fact derives the importance of the building’s scale and materials. The purpose is to keep this site by setting it free from the burden of adjacent buildings and reinforcing its natural and landscape aspect.

It is about a modern building which contributes to the conservation and reinforcement of a landscape environment. The proposal was to merge the Palace into the setting by means of ceramic volumes on the surfaces rising up from an uneven stone-made plinth. Base made of blasted stone panels from Cardeñosa; roofing with big glazed ceramic pieces and brise-soleils made of prefabricated concrete make up the exterior volume, in an attempt to emphasize the concept of a modern building springing from the site. The base serves as a public square from which the town walls can be viewed and is suitable for open-air shows.

The space is distributed around a spacious hall with two different levels, which offers views of the town walls and the river.

Author: José Ignacio Linazasoro
Collaborators: Ricardo Sánchez González, Hugo Sebastián de Erice, C. Jiménez