RESSONÀNCIA (RESONANCE). DESIGN 7 | FALL 2017

An area with a vibrant cultural heritage, the neighborhood of El Raval is home to many museums, art centers, and cultural centers. The site of the residential building sits on the corner of  Av. De las Drasanes and Carrer Nou de la Rambla, in an area serving tourists wandering from the main street La Rambla in the North as well as the local population. The project seeks to embrace and encourage the arts culture of the neighborhood by providing a lively music venue on the ground floor that is accessible to the public. In response to the greenery running east and west, the building opens to movement on the ground floor to engage the existing park space. The main performance area is directed toward the park, activating it as a place where people gather to talk, listen to music, or observe the existing Roman ruins below. On the other side, it serves the café space, where people can enjoy live music from an interior space.

People walking along the northwest facade can look down into the performance space and across to the park, piquing their curiosity, and inviting them to explore the space beneath. Green strategies such as solar chimneys and green roofs provide for ventilation and water collection to serve the apartment residents in the floors above. 

The building facade is comprised of a skin made of fixed louvres oriented to block the harsh light of morning and evening, to allow sun from the south, and to provide privacy for the residents While the center of the building is open and inviting to the public, the building is heavily anchored to the ground on the southwestern face, where most of the building residents enter. This residential lobby on the ground floor is shared with flexible practice rooms that support the primary performance space. People walking along the street have the chance to catch glimpses of these spaces through vertical windows and to hear music coming from the open clerestory windows.