[Journal Review on AV monografias 144 ]

[ Archivo y Biblioteca Regional: regional archive and library]

·         Clear and transparent wall or open spaces of the block to gain public attention.

·          tree lined courtyard separates library from the other buildings

·         Conversion of the former brewery into the regional archive and library of Madrid(converted the factory into an ambitious macro cultural centre for Madrid’s regional government): It protects the historical legacy while the other shelters the present and future heritage – what is our legacy to protect and preserve, what is the foremost idea to preserve while developing into a better library.

·         Mansilla & tunon, the architects of this library, wrapped new structures around old to create city block with an enlightened civic purpose- do we have a public purpose to create the new structure in the kaiako region?

·         I have learnt their approach to preservation in which contemporary elements or additions are grafted onto historic structures with great freedom.

·         Ensure the right of the readers and visitors by keeping their reading spaces isolated while the basic design of the library being open to the community.

·         This regional archive are organised into three modules: contributions, storage and public attention- what is our module?

·         A varied program of multimedia libraries in the renovated industrial spaces: the brewery silos that were used for storage is now used to store books.

·         What promotes us to take such approaches?

[Espana Library, Medellin Colombia]

Background and needs

·      Placement: Located on the hillside to be separated from the violence of the city and to give equal economic and social opportunities to the population- to construct a platform that gathers all the pieces and to become a vantage point that offers panoramic views of the valley stretching below. This unique placement underscores the building’s role as a meeting place and landmark of the regenerated zone   

-       Geographically mountainous: to integrate itself to the landscape and become an interpretation of it

-       Geography defines the identity and the image of the city    

- building as an icon of the city                                      

·      Function: Multipurpose building with library, learning centre, an exhibition gallery, administration areas and an auditorium on a unique volume. The proposal was to fragment the program in three groups: The library, the rooms, and the auditorium; then join them with a bottom platform that allows flexibility and autonomy, improving the people’s participation considering each volume operates independently.

- flexible use of space applied to our design 

·      Design;

‘architecture as landscape’ the construction of an operative geography that belongs to the valley like a mechanism of organization of the program and the zone, showing the unknown directions of the irregular mountain contours, not like a metaphor, but like an organization of the form in the place, a folded building cut like the mountains. A landscape building that redefines the folded mountain structure in form and space, nullifying the idea of the landscape like a background and encouraging the ambiguity building-landscape.

- platform that defines the island form and space

‘building like an icon’ Our library can be noticeable as huge part of the Kaiako region, allowing it to redefine itself as the symbol of Kaiako – as a way of making people feel identified with my building and receive this library as their own. My library can be regarded as one of the touristic points in the Kaiako region and one of the most loved and visited

·      Structure: This building is organised in two structures: These structures of the design of this building is empowered as a meeting place, multiplying the connections.

1)    Building- landscape(rocks)

2)    Platform that integrates and transforms the cover into a square that looks into the valley; this way, the building is empowered as a meeting place, multiplying the connections and letting it develop as a reference point