Hasta La Ideas

Visitors enter a theatre in Huelva, Spain, below a bulky concrete cafe that rests upon backlit glass walls of purple and blue.

Refreshments for the Theatre in Almonte are served inside this concrete first floor block.

Beyond, a single auditorium surrounded by standard wardrobes and dressing rooms occupies the majority of the two-storey building’s interior.

Timber partitions, staircases and benches furnish the lobby, whilst the auditorium has a timber floor.

The theatre building is located on the site of a former winery and nestles amongst existing buildings, facing onto a public square.

A cultural centre in Madrid also features a projecting concrete face – see our earlier story here.

Photography is by Fernando Alda

See more images of this project on Alda’s website.

Here are some more details from the architects:

New Theatre in Almonte, Huelva, Spain.

The building is located on the site of an old winery.

It has the challenge of integrate the existing old buildings, declared as cultural interest, and being part of a cultural complex of a total of three buildings and a common space.

This space turns into the main place of the town and an important meeting area.

An opportunity to work on light, material and space. The path chosen to work on these concepts, is the contrast.

Contrast between outside and inside, between old and new, including a monumental scale and human scale.

And the journey as the thread that sews and explains the intervention.

A large area covered with large proportions and controlled height works as a high threshold.

A monumental scale lobby welcomes the visitor showing the scale of a public building.

Location: c/ Antonio Machado de Almonte, Huelva, Spain.

Architect Authors: Juan Pedro, Donaire Barbero – Donaire Arquitectos

Architect Team: Jesús Núñez Bootello, Carmela Domínguez Asencio, Tibisay Cañas Fuentes, David Rapado Moreno, Ignacio Núñez Bootello, Beatriz Hacar Hernández, Celine Nelke, Delia Pacheco Donaire, Pablo Baruc, García Gómez

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Engineering: Javier Drake Canela, Guillermo Márquez Villanueva, Alfonso Buiza Camacho

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Client: Junta de Andalucía, Diputación de Huelva, Ayuntamiento de Almonte

Contractor: Procondal S.A.

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Project year: 2004

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Construction: 2010

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Budget: 3.676.000 € (1.125,60 €/m2 )

Project Area: 3.265,70 m2

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Museum of Liverpool by 3XN	Auditorium by Estudio Barozzi Veiga	Neighbourhood Centre by Colboc Franzen & Associés

Here are some photographs of a renovated fortress in northern Italy that now features patinated steel bridges, an extended underground tunnel and concrete towers.

Austrian Italian architects Markus Scherer and Walter Dietl overhauled the site in 2009, when it hosted a regional exhibition.

The fortified site was originally constructed in the nineteenth century by the Habsburg family, who were nervous about revolutionary iedas spreading from France and catching on in their own neighbourhood.

Since then, it has been used as a gunpowder depot, army territory and as a venue for the 2008 European contemporary art biennale.

Two sandblasted concrete towers with horizontal fissures lead visitors through to a ticket office, shop, bar, restaurant and exhibition area.

Restored vaults provide exhibition rooms with newly exposed brick arches and steel staircases.

One of these staircases leads down into the extended underground tunnel, which was apparently once used to hide gold stolen from the Bank of Italy.

Steel bridges emerge from windows to create external routes between first and second floor rooms, crossing an artificial lake.

Elsewhere, the granite walls of all existing buildings onsite have been restored, while roofs have been waterproofed.

Other stories about renovated castles and strongholds include a castle converted into a mountain museum – see all our stories about castles here.

See also: our recent feature about about caves and grottoes.

Photography is by Alessandra Chemollo.

Here are some more details from Markus Scherer:

The Fortress of Franzensfeste

“Begun under Francis I in the year 1833 – completed by Ferdinand I in the year 1838”, reads the Latin inscription over the gate of the fortress. In just five years, over 6,000 workers and soldiers built a blocking position at one of the narrowest points in the Eisack valley. It has the dimensions of a small town and, with a surface area of 20 hectares, is the largest fortification in the Alpine region. With this monumental defensive work the Habsburgs hoped to halt the advance of the revolutionary changes provoked by the French revolution. Designed by regimental engineer Franz von Scholl, it consists of three autonomous sections: the upper, middle and lower fortress levels. It has clear and simple classicist lines; it is functional and impregnable. As the military threat did not materialise in the decades following its construction, however, the fortress rapidly lost its importance. By the end of the 19th century it was merely used as a powder depot. In 1918 Franzensfeste came under Italian rule and was used by the army until 2003.

Acquired by the province of South Tyrol, new opportunities for the preservation of this cultural monument have arisen: the former fortress is intended to become a place for meetings and cultural exchanges. In 2008 it was one of the four venues for the European biennale of contemporary art, Manifesta 7, and in 2009 it hosted the South Tyrolean regional exhibition.

The Meran architect Markus Scherer prepared the lower fortress level for Manifesta 7, an exhibition surface area of over 3600 m². Preservation of the buildings and the character of the fortress was paramount. The huge granite blocks making up the walls were restored, the roofs waterproofed and the windows repaired. Walled-off spaces were opened up and later additions removed. The size and extent of the complex are not at first obvious from the courtyard behind the main gate. The monolithic structures with small, regularly spaced window apertures are on different levels around the compound, connected by ramps. The lowest are lapped by the dark waters of the adjacent artificial lake. New galvanised steel railings and staircases have improved safety. Two windowless concrete towers with lifts and staircases link the buildings. The surfaces and the material used interpret the historical building method anew: they are concreted in irregular 30-70 cm sections, with a fine layer of sand between each. These layers were flushed out to produce an irregular horizontal joint pattern and granite sand was used to adapt the towers to the surrounding colour, with the surface roughened by sandblasting.

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These objects, with their military numbering, now accommodate a visitor centre with a ticket office and shop, as well as a bar, restaurant, a play area for children and, last but not least, a large exhibition area. Visitors to Manifesta are greeted by a seemingly endless series of rooms. The carefully restored vaults of exposed brick-work and the plastered walls, some decorated with murals, have retained the aura of the past. On one of the walls can be read “Immer vorwärts!”, always forwards, understandable in every language spoken in the Empire: let modern art breathe fresh life over the walls! New items such as grilles, handrails, doors and the two free-floating bridges over the lake, connecting two buildings, are all constructed of galvanised, patinated steel: the existing elements form a pleasant context for their cloudy black coloration.

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The existing tunnel, where the Bank of Italy’s stolen gold was found, was extended and a 22-metre long vertical shaft driven through the rock to connect the lower to the middle fortress. The black concrete stairway with its golden handrail (Kunst am Bau (The Art of Building) by Manfred Alois Mayr) spirals upwards like a sculpture.

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The stairs and lift end in the partially destroyed powder magazine. This was redesigned as the new entrance building, while the new adjacent building of compressed concrete (coloured to match the existing construction through the use of granite sand) provides the outside edges of the missing sections and contains all the sanitary and technical areas for the middle fortress.

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The remaining buildings have as far as possible been left as they were found. Only certain elements such as safety grilles, rails and ramps have been added and these, as in the lower fortress, are of galvanised, patinated steel.

Client: Autonome Provinz Bozen
Project managment: Arch. Josef March (main coordinator)
Geom. Hans Peter Santer (Project leader)
Hbpm Ingenieure – Ing. Julius Mühlögger, Ing. Gunnar Holzer (Project leader)

Architect: Markus Scherer, Meran with Walter Dietl, Schlanders
Construction supervisor: Markus Scherer, Meran – Klaus Plattner, Bozen
Collaborator: Heike Kirnbauer, Elena Mezzanotte
Structural engineering: Baubüro-Klaus Plattner, Bozen
Safety coordinator: Günther Rienzner, Bozen
Electrical and domestic engineering: Planconsulting, Burgstall
Finishing: 05.2009
Location: Festung Franzensfeste, Franzensfeste

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Messner Mountain Museum by EM2	Museum Extension by Nieto Sobejano	Jaffa Flat by Pitsou Kedem

Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh have completed a see-through church in Limburg, Belgium.

The ten metre-high church is constructed from 100 stacked layers of weathered steel plates.

Gaps between these plates allow visitors to through through the walls.

With its pointed spire, the building imitates the form of traditional churches in the region.

Entitled Reading between the Lines, the project forms part of the Z-OUT programme coordinated by the Z33 gallery, which aims to bring art into public space.

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh were also responsible for creating an upside dome inside an existing church in Leuven – see our earlier story here.

Photography is by Kristof Vrancken.

Here are some more details from Gijs Van Vaerenbergh:

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh makes church sculpture as part of art in public space project

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, a collaboration between young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh, have built a see-through church in the Belgian region of Haspengouw. The church is a part of the Z-OUT project of Z33, house for contemporary art based in Hasselt, Belgium. Z-OUT is an ambitious long-term art in public space project that will be realised on different locations in the Flemish region of Limburg over the next five years.

The church is 10 meters high and is made of 100 layers and 2000 columns of steel. Depending on the perspective of the viewer, the church is either perceived as a massive building or seems to dissolve – partly or entirely – in the landscape. On the other hand, looking at the landscape from within the church, the surrounding countryside is redefined by abstract lines.

The design of the church is based on the architecture of the multitude of churches in the region, but through the use of horizontal plates, the concept of the traditional church is transformed into a transparent object of art.

The project is called ‘Reading between the Lines’ and is a project by the duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, a collaboration between young Belgian architects Pieterjan Gijs (Leuven, 1983) and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh (Leuven, 1983).Since 2007, they have been realizing projects in the public space that derive from their architectural background, but clearly display an artistic intention. As such, their projects do not always originate from the customary commission and carry a large degree of autonomy. Their primary concerns are experiment, reflection, a physical involvement with the end result and the input of the viewer.

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Shiv Temple by Sameep Padora & Associates	Church by Beton	Sta Columbina Chapel by Luis Ferreira Rodrigues

Copenhagen studio Henning Larsen Architects have completed a concert hall and conference centre in Reykjavík, Iceland, in collaboration with artist Olafur Eliasson.

Panes of clear and colour-coated glass surround a steel framework of twelve-sided modules on the south facade of the Harpa Concert and Conference Centre.

Inspired by basalt crystals, the faceted glass scatters reflections of the surrounding harbour and sky, and presents a glittering wall of light after dark.

A flattened version of this geometry surrounds the other elevations of the building.

Three large concert halls occupy the first floor, including one finished entirely in red, while a smaller fourth hall on the ground floor provides a venue for intimate performances and banquets.

Visitors access the main foyer from a south-facing entrance, while staff and performers enter the backstage area from the north.

The centre was delivered with local studio Batteriid Architects.

The project was featured on Dezeen last year, when it was still under construction – see our earlier story here.

See more projects by Henning Larsen Architects on Dezeen here, and more projects by artist Olafur Eliasson here.

Photography is by Nic Lehoux.

Here are some more details from Henning Larsen Architects:

Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre in Reykjavik gathers inspiration from the northern lights and the dramatic Icelandic scenery.

Situated on the border between land and sea, the Centre stands out as a large, radiant sculpture reflecting both sky and harbour space as well as the vibrant life of the city.

The spectacular facades have been designed in close collaboration between Henning Larsen Architects, the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson and the engineering companies Rambøll and ArtEngineering GmbH from Germany.

The Concert Hall and Conference Centre of 28,000 m2 is situated in a solitary spot with a clear view of the enormous sea and the mountains surrounding Reykjavik.

The Centre features an arrival and foyer area in the front of the building, four halls in the middle and a backstage area with offices, administration, rehearsal hall and changing room in the back of the building.

The three large halls are placed next to each other with public access on the south side and backstage access from the north.

The fourth floor is a multifunctional hall with room for more intimate shows and banquets.

Seen from the foyer, the halls form a mountain-like massif that similar to basalt rock on the coast forms a stark contrast to the expressive and open facade.

At the core of the rock, the largest hall of the Centre, the main concert hall, reveals its interior as a red-hot centre of force.

The project is designed in collaboration with the local architectural company, Batteríið Architects.

Harpa – Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Centre forms part of an extensive harbour development project in Reykjavik, the East Harbour Project.

As the name indicates, the overall objective of the project is to expand and revitalise Reykjavik’s eastern harbour with a new downtown plaza, a shopping street, a hotel, residential buildings, educational institutions and mixed industry.

The overall intention is to generate life in the area and to create a better connection between the city centre and the harbour.

Situated outside the city’s building mass, the building will become a significant icon in the city – a visual attractor with a powerful and varying expression.

The isolated location will mean that, to a great extent, the changing climatic and light effects will be exposed in the facades of the concert building, often in contrast to the narrow and shady streets in the rest of the city.

Henning Larsen Architects has designed the facade of the Concert Hall in close collaboration with the local architects Batteríið Architects and the Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson.

As the rest of the building, the design of the facades is inspired by nature.

In particular, the characteristic local basalt formations have provided the inspiration for the geometric facade structure.

Made of glass and steel in a twelve-sided space-filling geometric modular system called the ‘quasibrick’, the building appears a kaleidoscopic play of colours, reflected in the more than 1000 quasibricks composing the southern facade.

The remaining facades and the roof are made of sectional representations of this geometric system, resulting in two-dimensional flat facades of five and sixsided structural frames.

In order to develop these ideas the team worked with three-dimensional computer models, finite element modelling, various digital visualisation techniques as well as maquettes, models and mock-ups.

Light and transparency are key elements in the building.

The crystalline structure, created by the geometric figures of the facade, captures and reflects the light – promoting the dialogue between the building, city and surrounding landscape.

One of the main ideas has been to “dematerialise” the building as a static entity and let it respond to the surrounding colours – the city lights, ocean and glow of the sky.

In this way, the expression of the facade changes according to the visual angle.

With the continuously changing scenery, the building will appear in an endless variation of colours.

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Convention Centre by Eva Jiricna and A.I Design s.r.o.	Auditorium and Congress Hall by Estudio Barozzi Veiga	Kauffman Center by Safdie Architects

Steel whirlpools spiral into skylights in the roof of a church in Austria by architects Coop Himmelb(l)au.

The swirling roof, which was manufactured in a shipyard, rests like a table-top upon four steel columns over the prayer room of the Martin Luther Church.

Daylight penetrates the room’s stucco-covered ceiling through the circular voids, as well as through a street-facing facade of projecting glass triangles.

Through glass doors at the rear of the prayer room is a church hall used by the local community, while a sacristy, pastor’s office and toilets are situated alongside both spaces.

A 20 metre-high steel bell-tower soars up into the sky in front of the building’s entrance.

Other buildings by Austrian architects Coop Himmelb(l)au include a tower covered in a folded metal skin and an energy-generating canopy over a passageway – see all our stories about Coop Himmelb(l)au.

Photography is by Duccio Malagamba.

Here’s a more detailed description from Coop Himmelb(l)au:

Project
Martin Luther Church Hainburg, Austria
(2008-2011)

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Architectural Concept

In less than a year a protestant church together with a sanctuary, a church hall and supplementary spaces was built in the centre of the Lower Austrian town Hainburg, at the site of a predecessor church that doesn’t exist anymore since the 17th century.

The shape of the building is derived from that of a huge “table”, with its entire roof construction resting on the legs of the “table” – four steel columns. Another key element is the ceiling of the prayer room: its design language has been developed from the shape of the curved roof of a neighboring Romanesque ossuary – the geometry of this century-old building is translated into a form, in line with the times, via today’s digital instruments.

The play with light and transparency has a special place in this project. The light comes from above: three large winding openings in the roof guide it into the interior. The correlation of the number Three to the concept of Trinity in the Christian theology can be interpreted as a “deliberate coincidence”.

The church interior itself is not only a place of mysticism and quietude – as an antithesis of our rather fast and media-dominated times – but also an open space for the community.

The sanctuary gives access to the glass-covered children’s corner, illuminated by daylight, which accomodates also the baptistery. The actual community hall is situated behind it: folding doors on the entire length of the space between the two main chambers allow for combining them to one continuous spatial sequence. A folded glass façade on the opposite side opens the space towards the street.

A third building element, a longitudinal slab building along a small side alley, flanks both main spaces and comprises the sacristy, the pastor’s office, a small kitchen and other ancillary rooms. A handicapped accessible ramp between the three building components accesses the church garden on higher ground.

The sculptural bell tower at the forecourt constitutes the fourth element of the building ensemble.

Like other projects of COOP HIMMELB(L)AU the roof elements of the church building were assembled in a shipyard. The implementation of the intricate geometries required specific technologies of metal-processing and manufacturing only available in shipbuilding industry. The reference to shipbuilding is at the same time also reminiscent of Le Corbusier who served as an important role model, not least because of his La Tourette monastery.

Technical Description

Due to its shape with three skylights the roof of the Martin Luther Church in Hainburg was designed as a self-supporting steel construction with a stucco ceiling. The structure was assembled in a wharf at the Baltic Sea. The exterior skin is made of 8 mm thick three-dimensionally curved steel plates welded on a frame construction. In turn, this structure of steel plates and frame sits on a girder grid. The compound of grid, frame and steel skin transfers the total load of the roof (23 tons) on four steel columns which are based on the solid concrete walls of the prayer room.

The roof construction was delivered in four separate parts to Hainburg, assembled and welded on site. There, the coating of the whole structure was finished and mounted with a crane in the designated position on the shell construction of the prayer room.

On the interior ceiling the suspended frame structure was covered in several layers of steel fabric and rush matting as carrier layer for the cladding of the stucco ceiling, whose geometry follows the three-dimensionally curved shape of the roof with the skylights.

The free-form bell tower of the Martin Luther Church was also manufactured, by means of shipbuilding technology, as a vertical self-supporting steel structure with wall thickness between 8 and 16 millimeter, only braced by horizontal frames. The 20 meter high tower weighing 8 tons is welded rigidly to a steel element encased in the concrete foundations.

Team
Planning: COOP HIMMELB(L)AU
Wolf D. Prix / W. Dreibholz & Partner ZT GmbH
Design Principal: Wolf D. Prix
Project Architect: Martin Mostböck
Design Architect: Sophie-Charlotte Grell
Project Team: Steven Baites, Daniel Bolojan, Victoria Coaloa, Volker Kilian, Martin Neumann, Martin Jelinek

Client: Association „Freunde der Evangelischen Kirche in Hainburg/Donau”, Austria
User: Evangelische Pfarrgemeinde A.B. Bruck a.d. Leitha – Hainburg/Donau, Austria
Structural engineering: Bollinger Grohmann Schneider ZT GmbH, Vienna, Austria
Construction survey: Spirk & Partner ZT GmbH, Vienna, Austria

Main works / finishing: Markus Haderer Baubetrieb Ges.m.b.H, Hainburg/Donau, Austria
Steel construction (roof/ tower): OSTSEESTAAL GmbH, Stralsund, Germany
Steel Construction (façade): Metallbau Eybel, Wolfsthal, Austria
Fibre cement cladding: Eternit-Werke Ludwig Hatschek AG, Vöcklabruck, Österreich SFK GmbH, Kirchham, Austria
Altar: Idee & Design, Stainz, Austria

Project data
Site area: 420 m²
Sanctuary for 50 people, community space und ancillary rooms
Total gross floor area: 289 m²
Height (slab building / community space): 3,5 m
Height sanctuary: 6 m
Height roof: 10 m
Length: 25 m
Width: 10-17 m
Height bell tower: 20 m

Chronology
Start of Planning: 2008
Start of Construction: 08/2010
Opening: 04/2011

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Church in Foligno by Doriana Fuksas	Tampa Covenant Church by Alfonso Architects	Dove of Peace by Sunlay Design