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Sumit Singhal
Sumit Singhal loves modern architecture. He comes from a family of builders who have built more than 20 projects in the last ten years near Delhi in India. He has recently started writing about the architectural projects that catch his imagination. Arquipélago – Contemporary Arts Centre in Azores, Portugal by Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados, Lda. and João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto Lda.October 21st, 2016 by Sumit Singhal
Article source: João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto Lda. The Arquipélago – Contemporary Arts Centre seeks to unite the different scales and times of its parts. It is a transdisciplinary project whose mission is to disseminate, create and produce emerging culture: a space of exchange and interface for people, knowledge and events.  Image Courtesy © José Campos
 Image Courtesy © José Campos The design of Arquipélago – Contemporary Arts Centre – maintains the industrial character of the whole and highlights the dialogue between an existing building (former factory of alcohol / tobacco) and the new construction (arts and culture center, storage facilities, multipurpose hall / performing arts, laboratories, artist studios).  Image Courtesy © José Campos  Image Courtesy © José Campos The Arquipélago – Contemporary Arts Centre acquires its identity by the quiet variation between the preexistence and the two new buildings. The containment strategy of facilities implementation enhances the spatial efficiency and hierarchical functionality of the different areas of the existing factory complex. The new buildings absorb the required functionalities, with special conditions, not compatible with the spatiality of preexisting buildings.  Image Courtesy © José Campos  Image Courtesy © José Campos The project of the Arquipélago does not exaggerate the differences between the old and the new buildings. On the contrary, it seeks to unite the different scales and times of its parts throughout a pictorial manipulation of the form and materiality of the buildings – the existing constructions are marked by the volcanic stone masonry and the new buildings are characterized by an abstract form, without reference or allusion to any language, built in concrete with local basalt inert continuously working with the variation of surfaces’ textures and rugosity, complementing the mass of the buildings with the emptiness of the patios.  Image Courtesy © José Campos  Image Courtesy © José Campos The design is committed to the quality of what exists, showing the typological variations – new buildings are placed next to the existing ones in a serene manner – underlining the architectonical memory of a given period and the new addition, without damaging or subverting the spatial and constructive structures of the whole. Context and contiguity contribute to the autonomy of the object.  Image Courtesy © José Campos  Image Courtesy © José Campos The new program reinvents the existent building, making it a meaningful space in a peripheral region in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The Arquipélago – Contemporary Arts Centre adds meaning to the social and cultural context where it is built. A new Public Space is materialized in a central square/pateo where art feels comfortable and blurs the frontiers between private and public spheres, leisure and work, art and life.  Image Courtesy © José Campos  Image Courtesy © José Campos The aspects of the sustainable performance of the buildings were addressed through its materiality (structures, infra-structures) and the absorption of the existing handcrafted knowledge enriched by its timeless way of building. The sustainable measures adopted are passive systems that seek to provide comfort for the users: the density of the concrete walls offer inertia and energy efficiency; the rain water is reused.  Image Courtesy © Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados, Lda. About Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados, Lda. Menos é Mais Arquitectos is the office created in Oporto in 1994 by Cristina Guedes and Francisco Vieira de Campos. Both graduated from Oporto School (FAUP), Francisco Vieira de Campos worked with Eduardo Souto de Moura (1989-1991) and Cristina Guedes with Álvaro Siza (1991). They both teach, FVC (FAUP) and CG (FAULP), and have been invited for the final critics at Mendrisio Architecture Academy and ETH Zurich, Switzerland and dARQFCTUC, Coimbra, Portugal.  Cristina Guedes, Image Courtesy © Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados, Lda.  Francisco Vieira de Campos, Image Courtesy © Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados, Lda. About João Mendes Ribeiro Arquitecto Lda. João Mendes Ribeiro was born in Coimbra in 1960. Graduated in 1986 from the Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto. PHD in Architecture from Universidade de Coimbra, in 2009, in the field Theory and History. He has been teaching Architectural Design in the Departamento de Arquitectura da Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade de Coimbra since 1991.  Joao Mendes Ribeiro, Image Courtesy © João Mendes Ribeiro Architect Lda  Image Courtesy © Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados, Lda.  Image Courtesy © Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados, Lda.  Image Courtesy © João Mendes Ribeiro Architect Lda  Image Courtesy © João Mendes Ribeiro Architect Lda  Image Courtesy © João Mendes Ribeiro Architect Lda  Image Courtesy © João Mendes Ribeiro Architect Lda  Image Courtesy © João Mendes Ribeiro Architect Lda  Image Courtesy © Menos é Mais Arquitectos Associados, Lda.
Categories: Art Center, Autocad |
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