Santa Eulalia Cultural Centre – Cano Lasso Architects
The fluid geometry takes its cue from the way drops of water slip down a glass pane, randomly converging along the way. This natural phenomena were the basis for the design and materials used: from the roof and internal and external partitions through to the furnishing and internal decorative motifs. The colored capsules forming the closed environments under the roof also recall drops of water. An outer transparent glass enclosure wraps around the three main areas designed to host temporary exhibitions to create an intervening peripheral space.
Entering from the north, the first capsule is bounded by translucent walls in bright orange methacrylate with deep steel doorways. Inside are three multifunctional halls and a library whose furnishings echo the sinuous lines that are the hallmark of the project. To the far south is a small municipal police station while the opposite end is given over to a large auditorium for conferences and community entertainment. Here, the transparent evanescent glazed walls are replaced by concrete partitions to ensure the darkened environments needed for a theater.
The multipurpose halls, local police station and auditorium all look out onto the south side where the concrete roof and glazed walls give way to a white-paneled covered walkway and a sinuous partition wall made of closely-set green and white slats separating the court from the road. The white painted pipes of the air conditioning system visible throughout the interiors recall the slender white columns holding up the roof and the neon tubes illuminating the fluid interior spaces. The white paving, frame and mechanicals set off to great effect the brilliant green and orange of the walls and objects arranged throughout the space.
