María Lejárraga Public Library
Spain CCC ES
Rubens Cortés Arquitectos
2011
Type
Library
Tags
cultural facilities, back to the rural realm, Spain ccc
Visitability
Allowed
Description
Tobacco dryers are agricultural constructions of Vega Granadina. The development of this typology is clearly associated with the cultivation of tobacco introduced in Granada agriculture in the late 19th century. Tobacco cultivation became more important during the 1940s. Then there was a progressive recession, which ended with the crises of the last decade of the 1990s, when it ceased to be a subsidized crop. Today only a few areas continue to be dedicated to this activity. However, tobacco dryers are still part of the landscape of Granada and are the most recognizable footprint in the city's rural history. The decline of agricultural production has caused a progressive occupation and transformation of the rural landscape into urban. During this long process most of the dryers have disappeared; others have been absorbed by the growth of the urban fabric in a similar way to that occupied by this rehabilitation project.The reading room is solved by a wooden structural section. Floor, wall and ceiling form a lattice ring that rests on concrete walls.The vertical bearing structure consists of 90 x 90 mm right feet of solid elondo wood separated every 95 cm. Curing the intermediate spaces appear a series of uprights of 45 mm thick and 150 mm of face, with lengths of 4500 mm (height of the building). The 90 mm gaps between the faces of both types of elements are alternately filled with wood and glass. It is precisely this game of solid and hollow that the architect uses as a compositional element to get a really inter-esting facade of vertical lattice. To simplify this only 9 different glass heights 100 mm wide and 20 mm thick are used.The mullions are extended with the same square of 45 x 150 mm forming the ground, which is solid again with pieces of elondo wood, which do not reach the walls leaving a stripe partially free. In this way, he passes Natural Light to the lower room at certain times of the day. In this way the framework actually forms a series of consecutive porches of decreasing height, with the two studs, the lower beam and the slope formation (two truncated parts and a horizontal piece). (Description provided by Rubens Cortés Arquitectos)