The proposal is framed within the “Plan of Urban Improvement for the Old Town Center of Valls”. The plan is to build a new municipal library, as well as a residential building, an underground car park and a public space, at the crossroad between the streets of Forn Nou and Sant Pere.
STUDIO NAME: mipmarí arquitectura i disseny
DESIGN TEAM: mipmarí, Gorka Álvarez, David Agustín
YEAR: 2007
LOCATION: Valls, Tarragona, Spain
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Carlos Ortega
OTHER CREDITS: Monica Simoes, graphic design
The approaching views are very important and, in our opinion, must be capitalized by the new library. In this way, the library generates the new plaza. We place the housing units facing the street of Sant Pere.
We position the access ramp to the car park at the junction between the two buildings, freeing the public space of this element. The project integrates the pedestrian exits of the parking into the buildings.
Dialogues between limits and the search for the south
We were concerned by providing a pleasant solution to the union between old and new. We believe in the importance to establish an interesting dialogue both between the limits of the intervention and the environment, as well as within the internal limits themselves. Our proposal is to do it through a set of fissures that function as transition holes. Generating these interstices, the buildings approach each other with deference.
Like most old towns, that of Valls is predominantly gloomy. The north orientation of both the buildings and the plaza does not help in the improvement of this aspect. In contrast, the center of the block enjoys plenty of sun, thanks to the porosity of the space. We take advantage of the proposed fissures between the buildings to generate leaks of light and sun.
The powerful language of form
Let’s imagine the building as a large stone die that has been sculpted. Through voids and fillings, we are giving shape (and response) to the library. The abstract geometries that we generate help us to enhance the presence of equipment within a highly consolidated residential building environment. The powerful beauty of forms seduces the viewer, inviting him to discover what is hidden behind them.
How voids fill the space
Deepen the relationships between spaces. Since the program is developed in height, we wanted to integrate some floors with others by emptying certain areas. This allows us to create visual relationships between floors that share the same use, enhance the volumes within the same building and bring overhead light to intermediate floors … Few times subtracting has added so much!
Mipmarí arquitectura i disseny
From Barcelona and Ibiza, mipmarí arquitectura i disseny is an architecture studio rooted in the Mediterranean and its culture, committed to people and the environment. In today’s rapidly changing world, mipmarí wants to contribute to the creation of an environment that is beautiful, comfortable, functional, and sustainable, for the society of the present and future. This studio falls in love with every project they do, and they are always seeking new technological challenges and opportunities to push their creative frontiers.
Mipmarí is proud to say that the projects they develop, from public to private, new construction or heritage restoration, all have a strong social and ecological awareness. Not only that, but they center all their projects around the three essential pillars which underlie high quality architecture: an adequate adaptation to the physical and cultural environment, maximum functionality for the user and constant aesthetic, technical and artistic exploration.
Mipmarí’s constant intention is to find the balance between creativity and the technical solution; functionality and beauty; tradition and contemporary lifestyle; environment and building.