Mies Memorial Competition
When we think of a library we imagine a place where people seek concentration and knowledge, and although people go there for these reasons, we believe that a library also has other meanings, it is above all a meeting place.
So the behavior that occurs in these spaces are both static and dynamic, and the architecture must respond to them. Our goal then will be to generate spaces designed not only for that individuality of a deep and reflective inner self but also spaces for collective interaction with peers, teachers and staff of the institution.
Conceptually our project then revolves around what we will call DIMENSION OF ACTION and DIMENSION OF CONTEMPLATION. Both dimensions may or may not take place within the same space and within the same time. They may be rotating and thanks to an architecture of open, modulated, interchangeable and unconditioned spaces, they can be adapted to an infinite number of possible situations.
DIMENSION OF CONTEMPLATION
Parts of the program require a deeper contemplation, an observation. We seek to generate architecture where the user as an observer can build his own constellations in a favorable environment. The individuality of the person is preserved, we must not forget as individual subjects, the architecture responds to places where you can make a reflection, a pause.
DIMENSION OF ACTION
Parts of the program will have more effervescent dynamics, the architecture will be focused on generating spaces where teamwork and the exchange of ideas can develop.
DESIGN PROCESS
CHOICE OF LAND
Among the possible plots we chose the second one because we believe it is a strategic location, it is close to all the important buildings around, and it is also close to the train station and main streets where there is a great flow of people.
PROJECT STRATEGY
Once the site was determined, we decided what we wanted to transmit in its exterior and interior.
Externally we wanted to generate a building which recalls the surrounding Mies buildings but which also manages to stand out from them, noting a differential with our own imprint.
We emphasized Mies’ structural sincerity when thinking about the façade, by means of strips that allow us to easily read the different levels. It was also important in the process the modulation that we gave both in beams and glass panels, which are born from a grid of 5 meters by 5 meters in plan that affects its exterior elevation.
Externally in green areas we propose the play of planes, with walls (vertical planes) and slabs (horizontal planes) we generate spaces where individuality and collective learning situations can naturally occur.
Internally, the resources we used to express our ideas were mainly the use of WALLS, which divided private and public areas of the program, and DIVIDING WALLS that help to modulate both in public and private spaces the different situations of action and contemplation that are generated there.
As a result of the use of these resources in the project, the possibility of different RECORRIDES is generated. Each individual will live his or her own experience as he or she enters the memorial. It was also important for us that these routes are inclusive (use of ramps) allowing the experience to be totally collective.
