Giner de los Ríos Foundation
Spain CCC ES
amid.cero9
2015
Type
Cultural
Tags
learning environments, dealing with the urban fabric, progressive pedagogies, Spain ccc
Visitability
Allowed
Description
The new headquarters of the Francisco Giner de los Ríos Foundation pays tribute to the legacy of this free educational institution. The importance that this pioneering institution placed on outdoor learning and the recognition of landscape as a cultural fact is reflected in the ideas that the project conveys. Instead of a building, the project aims to create a garden that both commemorates the original garden, which was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War, and represents modern ideas about nature and ecology. The garden is designed as an artificial ecosystem in which plant species complement each other, making it very easy to maintain. The garden is a living space that changes and grows over the course of the year – a metaphor for the process of learning. The perimeter of the garden is made up of a series of branching classrooms enclosed by a metal latticework of bars, giving the complex a textile appearance. The rigorous study of the configuration of this skin means that while it is perceived as a continuous wall from the outside, it is virtually transparent from the inside. The garden space narrows towards the exit, forming a rampart bordered by the highest point of the building, a feature that communicates to the street the presence of this inner world dedicated to learning.