Eisenman Architects - City of Culture of Galicia

Under construction
Eisenman Architects
City of Culture of Galicia
Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Located on Monte Gaiás, a small hill overlooking Santiago de Compostela, the City of Culture is a new cultural center for the Province of Galicia in northwestern Spain.

Photo courtesy Paisajes Españoles, s.a.
Aerial view from southeast

The design evolves from the superposition of three sets of information. First, the street plan of the medieval center of Santiago is overlaid on a topographic map of the hillside site (which overlooks the city). Second, a modern Cartesian grid is laid over these medieval routes.
Third, through computer modeling software, the topography of the hillside is allowed to distort the two flat geometries, thus generating a topological surface that repositions old and new in a simultaneous matrix never before seen.

Image courtesy Eisenman Architects
Volumetric analysis

The original center of Santiago conforms to a figure/ground urbanism in which buildings are figural, or solid, and the streets are residual, or void spaces. Through this mapping operation, the project emerges as a curving surface that is neither figure nor ground but both a figured ground and a figured figure that supercede the figure-ground urbanism of the old city. Santiago’s medieval past appears not as a form of representational nostalgia but as a new yet somehow familiar presence found in a new form.

Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects
Competition model, 1999

The six buildings of the project are conceived as three pairs: the Museum of Galician History and the New Technologies center, the Music Theater and Central Services building; and the Galician Library and Periodicals Archive.
Visitor’s experiences of any given building will be affected by its relationship to its immediate partner. The caminos, or pedestrian streets, that wind between the buildings also open onto a public square, which is bordered by the six buildings and features landscape and water elements.

Photo courtesy Paisajes Españoles, s.a.
Aerial view of Biblioteca (left), Central Services building (center), and History Museum (right)

Photo courtesy Paisajes Españoles, s.a.
Aerial view of Hemeroteca (left) and Biblioteca (right)

Surrounding the built area of the CCG is the Arboretum of Galicia: an area of gardens and native woodland, conceived as both a recreational and an educational facility.

Currently four buildings are under construction. The remaining two buildings are scheduled to begin later this year. The Hemeroteca, or periodicals library, is scheduled to be completed in the spring.

Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects
South facade of Hemeroteca looking west

Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects
Roof of Hemeroteca looking east

Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects
South facade of Hemeroteca looking west

Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects
Interior of Hemeroteca

Size: one million square feet
Museum of Galician History: 172,000 square feet
New Technologies Center: 135,000 square feet
Music Theater: 220,000 square feet
Galician Library:122,000 square feet
Periodicals Archive: 86,000 square feet
Central Services building: 50,000 square feet

Total area: 173 acres
Project start: 2000
Expected Completion: 2010-2011
Buildings will open in phases beginning in 2006

Client: Fundación Cidade da Cultura de Galicia
Architect: Eisenman Architects

Eisenman Architects arcspace features

Book:
CODEX
By Peter Eisenman
Publisher: Monacelli Press

Through essays and illustrations, this book reveals Eisenman's theory of coding as a device for producing form. Through line drawings and perspectives, the development of the code - and the buildings and landscape it informs - becomes apparent, culminating in a giant earthwork as excavation of the site begins.

Check the price at amazon.com

European customers click here:

Check the price at amazon.co.uk

January 23, 2006





				Features
		Under construction Eisenman Architects City of Culture of Galicia Santiago de Compostela, Spain Located on Monte Gaiás, a small hill overlooking Santiago de Compostela, the City of Culture is a new cultural center for the Province of Galicia in northwestern Spain. Photo courtesy Paisajes Españoles, s.a. Aerial view from southeast The design evolves from the superposition of three sets of information. First, the street plan of the medieval center of Santiago is overlaid on a topographic map of the hillside site (which overlooks the city). Second, a modern Cartesian grid is laid over these medieval routes. Third, through computer modeling software, the topography of the hillside is allowed to distort the two flat geometries, thus generating a topological surface that repositions old and new in a simultaneous matrix never before seen. Image courtesy Eisenman Architects Volumetric analysis The original center of Santiago conforms to a figure/ground urbanism in which buildings are figural, or solid, and the streets are residual, or void spaces. Through this mapping operation, the project emerges as a curving surface that is neither figure nor ground but both a figured ground and a figured figure that supercede the figure-ground urbanism of the old city. Santiago’s medieval past appears not as a form of representational nostalgia but as a new yet somehow familiar presence found in a new form. Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects Competition model, 1999 The six buildings of the project are conceived as three pairs: the Museum of Galician History and the New Technologies center, the Music Theater and Central Services building; and the Galician Library and Periodicals Archive. Visitor’s experiences of any given building will be affected by its relationship to its immediate partner. The caminos, or pedestrian streets, that wind between the buildings also open onto a public square, which is bordered by the six buildings and features landscape and water elements. Photo courtesy Paisajes Españoles, s.a. Aerial view of Biblioteca (left), Central Services building (center), and History Museum (right) Photo courtesy Paisajes Españoles, s.a. Aerial view of Hemeroteca (left) and Biblioteca (right) Surrounding the built area of the CCG is the Arboretum of Galicia: an area of gardens and native woodland, conceived as both a recreational and an educational facility. Currently four buildings are under construction. The remaining two buildings are scheduled to begin later this year. The Hemeroteca, or periodicals library, is scheduled to be completed in the spring. Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects South facade of Hemeroteca looking west Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects Roof of Hemeroteca looking east Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects South facade of Hemeroteca looking west Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects Interior of Hemeroteca Photo courtesy Eisenman Architects Interior of Hemeroteca Size: one million square feet Museum of Galician History: 172,000 square feet New Technologies Center: 135,000 square feet Music Theater: 220,000 square feet Galician Library:122,000 square feet Periodicals Archive: 86,000 square feet Central Services building: 50,000 square feet Total area: 173 acres Project start: 2000 Expected Completion: 2010-2011 Buildings will open in phases beginning in 2006 Client: Fundación Cidade da Cultura de Galicia Architect: Eisenman Architects Eisenman Architects arcspace features Book: CODEX By Peter Eisenman Publisher: Monacelli Press Through essays and illustrations, this book reveals Eisenman's theory of coding as a device for producing form. Through line drawings and perspectives, the development of the code - and the buildings and landscape it informs - becomes apparent, culminating in a giant earthwork as excavation of the site begins. Check the price at amazon.com European customers click here: Check the price at amazon.co.uk January 23, 2006