Library + School Farm, Collado Villalba, Madrid

Library + School Farm, Collado Villalba, Madrid

Projects 3

Delivered: 2004 Spring

Tutors: Sergio de Miguel + Mónica Alberola

TU: Capitel

This new project for the downtown Collado Villalba is conceived as a whole programme. The council brief is to fill voids in the urban context with equipments for the inhabitants and tourists: a school-farm and a car park in the village boundary and a library in the main square, in front of the town-hall. 

The strategy is the same in all the development: to produce the design with a crooked ribbon which could act as walls, book stacks, spaces or fences.

The school-farm is located in a huge plot in the North of the village. The ribbon’s design begins with the car park, following with the keeper house, then the fence and finally the elongated single- storey building with all the facilities for children and instructors: rooms, wardrobes, classrooms, craft workshops, canteen and kitchen. This chain of uses stands in spiral shape. It prompts the circulation and wraps the inner space for harvesting, farming and playing.

The library is made with another ribbon, trying to wrap the intern plot in the square and leaving inner courtyards. In this design, the ribbon houses the book stacks, stretching out into three storeys. The staircase flushed with the inner courtyard and joining the storeys is also made with the same stacks.

The access is located in the back street, going through a tinny garden, looking to the town hall square. The ground floor houses facilities for the village like a conference room and a newspaper library. Two storeys above comprise study spaces with desks inserted in the ribbon among the book stacks and administrative offices. Regarding to the ribbon, the mostly glazed elevations change with the movement of the books by users. The light drawn into by these elevations also suffers changes and sifts.

Research Library + Housing for CU, NY

Research Library + Housing, Columbia University, NY

Degree Final Project

Delivered: 2010 June

Tutor: José Antonio Ramos Abengózar

TU: Vicens

This project situated on the northern part of the Manhattan Island, above Central Park, will provide with new facilities for the Columbia University. The new programme comprises a low-rise research library and a high-rise housing for students, teachers and celebrity guests. The project will be developed inside Morningside Park plot, close to the eastern edge.

The strategy leading the project is the lower invasion of the park, due to the delicate design’s situation and the historical detractors of building inside the park. The building flushes with Morningside Dr.  and takes advantage of the street slope to prompt accesses to the different parts of the programme.

Formal building’s appearance is treated like a sculpture to adapt it to the park. The elevations are carved to get a different sensation step by step. The whole building is covered by a spread aluminium mesh to reach the changing look and to control the light and temperature in the inner spaces.

“Building gets dressed of park”

Two different programs, library and housing, are proposed and linked by the communication cores.

Library programme is divided in four storeys. Main of them is park height which comprises a huge study lounge with catalogue stacks. Upper floor is developed in two ribbons leaving a central void. Research works are carried out in this storey. Third level is for educational uses, comprising classrooms and audiovisual spaces. Finally, last level is developed in slope and takes in the inner street connecting two upper accesses.

Housing programme distinguish among dwelling typologies. These are complemented with servant spaces storeys: studying storey, living storey or gym storey at the top of the tower. Housing levels are divided in five individual rooms, two studios with cooking equipment and an apartment with two different spaces: living and working-resting.

Materials are selected following the strategy: long-life with less maintenance. Building components are concrete structure with steel beams and pillars and prefabricated slabs; stud-frame GRC for façades cladding with metallic mesh. Library is covered by a glazed span made up of trusses. Illumination is completed with ceiling pending luminaires and down lights.