Manzana del Revellín Cultural Centre

Description

The Cultural Centre of the Revellin neighbourhood is located in the historical and geographical centre of the city of Ceuta, where the urban fabric is the most dense. The project occupies one square block of the city, bounded by Calle des Ingenieros to the East, a new extension of Calle Cervantes to the south, Calle Padilla to the west, and the tree-lined Passeo del Revellin to the north. On the north-west corner of the site sits the neo-classical Municipal Museum, housing archaeological and cartographic works and possessing a clear view of the harbour from its terrace.The remainder of the sloping site, once occupied by a public market, is now vacant. It is bounded on all four sides by buildings of various heights, styles, and functions which, through their own orientation and the strength of their interstitial spaces, inform the morphology of the new building. The project takes into consideration both the necessary continuation of the urban fabric and the public nature of this open urban space in the development of its built form.Spatial Organization and AccessesThe design takes its cues from the surrounding geography, respecting the rhythm of the urban topography of the area and enhancing its situation through a play of pedestrian and vehicular accesses to and through the project site. The majority of the buildings sit on a plinth which forms a public plaza. Pedestrian accesses are carved in from the existing passages stepping down from Plaza de España to the east, and at the south-west and north-west corners of Calle Padilla. As in other parts of the city, the pedestrian is invited into the passage between buildings, where he is rewarded with a quiet respite in an open court, as well as access to all buildings of the site. Following the large curved wall which nudges the open court, and drawn by a simple colonnade, one is led to the entry of the theatre. Access to the congress centre is located at the near end of the colonnade, under the volume of the gallery space which shadows the west end of the site.The congress hall can also be entered directly from Calle Padilla, by a small ramp between two volumes of the halls themselves. Entry to the parking below also occurs along this side. Underneath the entire plaza are located two levels of public and private parking, the main entry of which previously exists and is shared by the "Ceuta Center" building to the south.Geometry and VolumetricsThe five buildings which compose the project are each placed with one side along the perimeter of the block, deferring to the inherently urban nature of the site. The volume of the theatre dominates in both size and shape, its curvilinear form distinguishing the block from its neighbours and calling attention to the particular function which it houses. The stage tower rises as it peels away from Calle Cervantes, marking the complex from afar as the tallest volume on the site. The wall at pedestrian level respects the street edge, while the axis of the stage and hall is turned to align perpendicularly to the streets which push into the site from the east.Accordingly, the artists' wing, which sits alongside the hall, is oriented along this axis. Together the three visible volumes which compose the theatre–stage, hall, artists' wing–express the fundamental relationship through which performing arts operate. The four separated boxes of the congress centre anchor the sloping site at its lowest level, on axis with Calle Padilla, and, like the volume of the theatre, clearly delimit their function as large open rooms. Below ground, each hall is accessed along a shared corridor, which joins the public lobby of the theatre. An interior public space is thus carved from the conjunction of the two buildings, in the coolness of a subterranean environment sheltered from the normally hot climate of the region. The music school, language school, and commercial building derive their respective geometries from the pre-existing clues of the site itself, acting as mediators between the dense fabric of the city and this new, important place. The Municipal Museum is re-integrated into its immediate surroundings and, in dialogue with the new buildings, helps to raise the civic importance of this quarter of the city.(Description provided by the architect)