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Architects: Fornari + Rojas Arquitectos
- Area: 1425 m²
- Year: 2012
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Text description provided by the architects. ORIGIN
The building of Ateneu Popular de 9 Barris was a former asphalt factory that was occupied by the neighbors of the district in the late 70's to become it in the first creation factory in Barcelona city.
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USAGE
The Ateneu works since 1978 and has, since its beginning, the circus as an identifier. It is a true "school of participation" that encourages the social commitment and solidarity among citizens.
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OBJECTIVES AND GUIDELINES
We wanted that the steady rhythm of the existing structure were to become an ally of the project, becoming also the generating key of it. That's why:
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- We potentiate the functional/distributional existing organization making more coherent the relationship between the spaces of zone 1: gym / office, zone 2: bar / local and zone 3: theater.
- The open space located between zones 1 and 2 gets closed and becomes the authentic hall of the building.
- We conserve and make the most of the central nave's volume to create large open spaces and permeable between them.
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- The outside porch of the existing structure is incorporated into the interior volume and is reinterpreted as a new element of communication and distribution; we remove the portion of the light cover and we create a new flat roof. The top of this cast has the dual use of gutter cover installations and technical corridor.
- We transform the small windows and the centered doors of the original building into a modulated unit enclosure. (23 modules of 5m wide x 4,5m high).
- With independence of the aluminum carpentry, which appears in most of the modules, only two materials are combined in the façade: on the one hand we have the glass u-glass (double as enclosure material, and single as coating material) and, in the other, a coating of metal sheet that can be folded, flat or perforated according to their position and need.