Recently, the municipality made plans to urbanize the community, allowing owners to build warehouses and workshops.  The uncertain economic future added pressure to the development. The free view from our client’s house was going to disappear.
In order to provide the client with a pleasant view after the site is built up, we propose to transform the blind walls and the roundabouts in such a way that he will still enjoy looking at them. We treated the walls as 1800 m2 of white canvas; an exhibition hall of 5 gigantic canvases creating a special corner that will  contrast sharply with the roughness and prefab character of the future warehouses.
We tested tens of proposals, from the literal, precise recreation of the view of the current landscape to the abstract tension of the constructivists painters.  Soon after, the client commissioned STAR not only to design these pieces but also the 12 warehouses that will fit in his property.

↑ image above: David Teniers the Younger. The Art Collection of Archduke Leopold-Wilhelm in Brussels. 1651. Oil on canvas. 127 x 162.5 cm. Petworth House, The National Trust, Sussex, UK.

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Title: Rotondas
Project name: Roundabouts + Warehouses / Naves y Rotondas
Date: September 2009
Type: Commission after Self-initiated study
Location: Cadrete, Zaragoza, Spain
Site: Calle la Venta / Calle Valladolid / Avenida de Navarra
Programme: Design of 3 Roundabouts + 2 Art Walls + 11-14 Warehouses
Surface: Roundabouts: 850 m² + 100 m² + 350 m² / Walls: 140 m² + 200 m² / Warehouses: 3800 m²
Status: On hold
Client: Confidential
Budget: N/A
STAR Team: Beatriz Ramo, Guadalupe Hernández, Jean-Vianney Deleersnyder

Elche´s Wheel
The Design of an Oxymoron.
Thousands of words have been written on the influence of the current economic crisis on the construction business. However, we think that this event has accelerated the birth of a new form of architectural thinking that – when applied to architectural production – will generate intelligent and substantial ideas, and leave behind the sensationalistic architecture of quick consumption. We believe more than ever that strategies, rather than shapes, are the only valid answers to the demands of the city of today.
The Mayor of Elche organized the competition with the requirement that the project should “provide the city with an EMBLEMATIC element to contemplate and promote the Palmeral of Elche” (quote from the competition brief). This raised the challenge of designing a humble icon, which is a true oxymoron. How to design an icon with the purpose of diverting attention towards something else?
In our careers as architects, the competition for the Mirador del Palmeral was our first chance to create an emblem for the city in which the landscape plays a crucial role, whereby evoking admiration for this landscape is the raison d’être of the icon.
Moreover, in this period of financial collapse and extreme preoccupation with sustainability, it would be hypocritical to close our eyes and produce another icon similar to all the previous ones. Let’s take this chance to think profoundly; to focus our intelligence on a strategy rather than on the egocentric and frozen architecture (icon) so characteristic of recent times.
The cultural landscape of palms that constitutes the Palmeral of Elche dates back to the 10th century, when much of the Iberian Peninsula was under Arab rule. This great patchwork of agricultural plots (huertos) was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the year 2000. The palm grove extends over approximately half of the area of the city. Due to the loss of its original use, it is becoming more difficult to integrate the Palmeral into city life. Apart from some huertos that were transformed into parks (losing their initial configuration in the process), remain empty and are deteriorating. Most of the Palmeral, mainly the most authentic parts, passes unnoticed to inhabitants and tourists, who misunderstand that the real value of the palm grove is not in the palm tree itself but in the ordered system of its plantation. There is not a single viewpoint in the city where the huertos system of palms can be seen and understood. The highest public point is the tower of the Basilica, but viewed from there the Palmeral is mistakenly understood to be a random forest of trees.
Within certain restrictions that apply to acting on a World Heritage Site, UNESCO supports interventions that enhance the universal value of the site. We believe that by building this viewpoint, tourists and inhabitants will be able to understand the Palmeral of Elche for the first time as a system of huertos, and recognise its strong presence in the city. Although the intervention should not eclipse or even compete with the importance of the Palmeral, it should be significant enough to attract tourism and regenerate the economy of the City.
Thus, we searched for an atemporal emblem; intelligent and flexible; capable of fulfilling these requirements within a budget of €10 million. We need an imaginative solution.
We propose a wheel for Elche. The wheel is a strategy. The wheel is resistant to fashion, style, and time. Its assembly is completely reversible and therefore the wheel has no permanent impact on the points where it touches the ground. As the wheel does not consume the total budget, we can also invest in the creation of adjacent public spaces. Moreover, with money made by selling tickets for the wheel, it is possible to recover the initial investment in less than three years. The wheel is an intelligent and rational structure; representative and beautiful, powerful and transparent.
The Wheel is the perfect union between FORM and FUNCTION.

Maximum Potential:  Mirador + Station, the greatest welcome to Elche
To explore the full potential of the intervention we propose three scenarios with different levels of investment. They range from the initial requirement of a single Mirador (viewpoint) project to a common building, housing the Mirador and railway station, with a connection to the platforms and the underground parking.
Our design places the Mirador at the former site of Elche’s Railway Station, which was demolished in the 1970s. The new railway station was built on the same avenue, 100 metres to the East. The spatial quality of the building leaves much to be desired, and it is in poor condition. There is an investment of €6 million for its renovation already in place. We believe it does not make sense to invest in that building; rather we propose a much more efficient and comprehensive operation. We plan to make a common investment of €16 million, including the budget for the Mirador, for a new common building where both programs can benefit from shared functions. This idea is feasible because the project is located within the double platform area of the train tunnel. In this way, the Railway station comes back to its original place: at the end of the Paseo it is named after. The Mirador and the Palmeral will be the image of arrival in the city.

Strategy in the immediate surroundings: Re-creation of Elche’s Palmeral
As we don’t consume the entire initial budget with the Mirador we propose to invest the remainder on the creation of a large public space in the current Paseo de la Estación, and a big square in place of the current traffic roundabout in front of the new Mirador-Station.
From the beginning of the 20th century until the 1960s this avenue was an elegant elevated Paseo Salon where the inhabitants of Elche enjoyed walking. It formed the main connection between the Railway Station and the City centre. With the prominence of the car in the 1960s, the elevated Paseo was demolished and transformed into a three lane road. This, together with the displacement of the railway station, damaged the character of the Paseo as a civic public space.
After studying the current traffic patterns in the area, we propose restricting vehicular access to public transportation and bicycles.
Once the Paseo is free of cars not only do we improve the sequence of public spaces on the North-South axis, the spaces between the city and the new Mirador+Station, but we also link the two parks that are currently disconnected on the East-West axis. Both parks are former palm huertos. This operation will unlock the enormous potential of the area as a public space right in the centre of the city. The construction of the Mirador-Station to the North of the Paseo will frame the views and will relocate the station in its former location.
We propose to keep the Paseo as a “hard” surface so it may host a large number of events, which would be impossible in a green area. Moreover, due to the dry weather of Elche, a green Paseo would require a significant amount of maintenance.
We have minimized the Paseo’s design to avoid compromising its potential. This design will only affect the surface; we have created a great carpet of tiles representing a pixelated aerial view of the Palmeral.
This large mosaic will be visible from the wheel as an enormous piece of urban art.

 
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El chapuzón – Museo Escolar Agrícola de Puçol
 
East view of palmeral 

Site within the Palmeral  – UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000
 
Brief demands:

 
Contradiction:


Current phenomena of Superstar architects / Iconic buildings

 
Invited architects for phase II:

 
Dilema: compromise?

Solution: Form+Function

Wheel vs. Traditional viewpoint typology

Wheel vs. Iconic Building






 
We undertsand the wheel as a programme, not as a design. We will develop option 3, to test its feasibility

View from Altamira Palace
 
 

The square determines the maximum dimension of the wheel
 

 

 

 

 

Elevation from the Paseo

 €4 million to invest in the creation of new public spaces

New public space
 
Maximum potential:


In red: current location of Elche Railway Station
 

Elche Parc – Elche Railway Station
 

Current arrival at Elche’s station

Proposed arrival at Elche’s station

Proposed building: Mirador + Station + Parking

Station elevation
 

 

Shading study
 

 


With the wheel, it will be the firts time that Elche will be able to see its most famous view from a public place:

 

  

 
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Title: Mirador del Palmeral
Project name: Mirador del Palmeral de Elch
Date:
First phase: February 2009 – results March 23, 2009
Second phase: May 2009 – results July 17, 2009
Type:
First phase: Open International Competition, selection of two teams from 56 participants (145 registrations).
Second phase: Invited Competition (2 teams from first phase + 5 invited teams: SANAA, MVRDV, Foster & Partners, Lapeña & Torres, Ábalos & Sentkiewicz + Teresa Galí-Arquitectura Agronomía)
Organizer: OCOA – Oficina de Concursos Comunidad Valenciana
Position: FIRST PRIZE
Location: Elche, Alicante, Spain
Site: Avenida del Paseo de la Estación + Roundabout with Avenida del Ferrocarril
 Programme: View point + Reurbanization + Proposed: Railway Station, Parking, Cultural Centre, Strategy for the reintegration of the Palm Grove in the city
Surface: 15.000 m² of public spaces + 1200 m² of exhibition rooms + Mirador –Viewpoint + Railway Station 1.100 m² + Parking 7.800 m²
Status: Construction Public Spaces expected spring 2011
Client: Ayuntamiento de Elche (Elche City Council)
Budget: € 10 Mill. + € 6 Mill. – Already reserved for the Railway Station
Awards: FIRST PRIZE
Publications: Selection:
- Arquitectos Movilidad, Madrid, Spain, June, 2011
-A New Generation in Architecture. West Arch vol.1, Berlin, Germany, September, 2010
-Met Stip 2010, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, June, 2010
-Architectuur NL #06, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, May, 2010
-TC Cuadernos, Concursos #94, Valencia, Spain, May 2010
-AV Proyectos #35, Madrid, Spain, March 2010
-AWM – Architectenweb Magazine #31, Bussum, the Netherlands, February 2010
-Arte y Cemento #2109, Bilbao, Spain, December 2009
-Paisajismo #31, Barcelona, Spain, November 2009
-Mark Magazine #22, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Sept/Oct 2009
-A10 magazine #29, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Sept/Oct 2009
-Cyan Magazine #5, (Spain), Sept/Oct 2009
-a+u. Architecture and Urbanism #468, Tokyo, Japan, September 2009
-Space Magazine #502, Seoul, Korea, September 09
-Design ReportMagazine # Spanien, Leinfelden, Germany, September 2009
-AD Algeem Dagblad #230709, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, July 2009
-Diario La Verdad #180709, Elche, Spain, July 2009
-Diario Información #180709, Elche, Spain, July 2009
-Diario Información #050609, Elche, Spain, June 2009
-Diario La Verdad #050609, Elche, Spain, June 2009
Exhibitions: Selection:
-West Arch – A New Generation in Architecture at the Ludwig Forum für International Kunst, Aachen, Germany, September 12 – November 14, 2010
-Traveling Exhibition Elche, Spain June 29–17 July 2009
-Lonja del Ayuntamiento, Elche, Spain June 5 – 29, 2009
-Solo Presentation at Menage a Trois in Matadero, during the Madrid Architecture Week, October 5, 2010
-Solo Presentation at FITUR 2010, IFEMA, Madrid, Spain, January 20, 2010
STAR Team: First phase: Beatriz Ramo, Jean-Vianney Deleersnyder, Simone de Iacobis
Second phase: Beatriz Ramo, Jean-Vianney Deleersnyder, Jordi Milà, Albert Perez, Luca Vandini
Collaborators: Competition phase: Logistics: Javier Ramo, Ana López – Angulo, Bernd Upmeyer (BOARD) Model: Vincent de Rijk + STAR; Text Editing: Maarten Doude van Troostwijk; Model 2011: Vincent de Rijk + STAR (Philip Vandermey, Francesca Rizzetto, Genoveva Carrión)
Consulting: ARUP España, Project director: Ignacio Fernández Solla (Associate Director) Coordinator: Fernando García Colorado, Structure: Patricio García Hernández, Kayin Dawoodi; Sustainability: Ramón Rodríguez Cabezón (Associate), Albert Hassan, Susana Saiz Alcázar; Electrical installation: Pablo Checa Sanz (Associate), Valentín García Rasero
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Reykjavik could herald a reverse trend. The availability of space and the good connections to the area will make it suitable to implement and materialize what could herald the beginning of a new approach to urbanism: bringing pieces of the periphery back to the centre: Multiplex cinemas, Shopping mall developments, Ikea… and so on, will be sharing space right in the centre of Vatnsmýri. To make this possible two things are needed: the adaptation of the architecture of these “boxes” to their new location and the planning of good infrastructural connections and plenty of parking space.
As the garden city was a reaction to industrialization, so the Vatnsmýri development will be a reaction to the diasporas of city-life. Today, one of the most powerful generators of urban life is shopping. Nevertheless, shopping has never been recognized as a relevant element for urban planners.

This new city centre, where urban activity is ensured, will be complemented with other city functions: the university, the hospital, the sports, recreation (the beach), and the airport, currently all existing at the edges of the site, and will be linked by the Vatnsmýri ring.
While all of these functions are usually peripherally situated in a city, in Reykjavik they exist right in the centre. By adding to this efficient assemblage of services the content of the big-box-development as the contemporary containers of city life, a successful development of the entire city may result.
Vatnsmýri can house everything the city centre could not endure and thus the new part of Reykjavik will be not combative, but complementary to the existing inner city. The result would be an “ideal” city where everything is within reach.

The Centre of Vatnsmýri:
The centre is given by the cross formed by the three runways of the airport. This generates a magnificent urban plateau that hosts the main shops, offices, cinemas, thermal baths, a university, the transportation hub, and a plaza with heated zones in winter. It possesses a large -1 level with 4500 parking lots, loading areas, entrances to shops and offices, and semi-sunken plazas. This underground world will provide shelter to city life in wintertime. To ensure a strong connection between these two levels the public spaces run from one to the other. This plateau is an essential element to allow for the long awaited reunion of suburban functions with urban functions.

Boulevards:
The size and direction of the existing airport runways fit perfectly in the development of the Vatnsmýri area. By keeping them we maintain a trace of an essential period in Reykjavik’s history, which will be inscribed in the structure of the city. They provide perfect shortcuts between the elements of the ring of services. They will be the main axes acting as: a wide Reykjavik Boulevard connecting the new with the old city centre, connecting the North with the South, and most of the main institutions; a fast expressway Vatnsmýri Road providing direct connections to the airport and disappearing underground when it crosses the centre; and a big Öskjuhlíð Avenue that connects the sea with the hill. The three axes cross on the Plateau at the ground floor and at -1 level, reduce traffic, and provide access to the parking lot and the underground world.

Ring of services:
Essential city functions (university, hospital, sporting areas, leisure, hotel) were forcibly placed around the airport creating an unconscious ring of city services with an empty core. By relocating the airport we obtain an ideal site for a new centre. This ring of services, combined with the new shops and office spaces in Vatnsmýri centre, may well produce around 15.000 jobs.
To collect all the services and connect the loose ends of the grid and the main axis we plan a ring road. As a scenic drive, the ring road leads past the hospital, the university, and residential areas, and delivers a magnificent view of the coast, and enables good access to Öskjuhlíd Hill. Recreational bicycle lanes go along the road.

Reykjavik Grid:
An underlying grid-structure appears at several places in the existing city. Inscribed as a lost language that knits together several periods of city extensions, it becomes the ideal grid for the Vatnsmýri development. It gives maximum clarity for organization and allows maximum flexibility in development. Every plot of the grid can be filled in independently. Our master plan proposes high density development at the intersection of the former runways, and lower density building at the fringes, to merge flawlessly with the surroundings. The sea and the Öskjuhlíð will determine the direction of the grid. The three main axes will appear as diagonals to this grid.

Reykjavik Central Park:
As Hringbraut will be led through a tunnel of 1km length under the park and the hospital, Hljómskálagardur Park will be connected to the Nordic house and the two combined will form the new large Central Park.

Airport:
Although relocating the Reykjavik Airport brings enormous opportunities we are also aware of the advantages that a central airport can bring. We propose to locate it on another site on a new island very near to Löngusker. To finance this relocation, industry located at the northwestern corner of the city-center could be moved to the new island which will become a prime location harbor area that could be developed jointly to contribute to the strengthening of Reykjavik as a capital city.

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Title: Reykjavik, Ideal City of 21^st Century
Project name: Masterplan for the new district of Vatnsmýri 102 Reykjavik
Date:
First phase: May 2006 – stopped & May 2007 – restarted
Second phase: October 2007
Type: International Open Competition
Organizer: Reykjavik City Planning Committee
Participants: First phase: 136
Second phase: selection of 16 entries from Phase 1
Ranking: FINALIST
Location: Reykjavik, Iceland
Site: Vatnsmýri airport
Programme: Housing, 2 University campuses, sports areas, road and rail infrastructures, new Airport, green areas and a new City centre
Surface: 225 Ha
Status: Competition
Client: City of Reykjavik
Budget: N/A
Awards: FINALIST
Publications:
-Vatnsmýri 102 Reykjavik, Iceland, February 2008
-Future Arquitecturas #15, Madrid, Spain, January 2009
Exhibitions:-Vatnsmýri, 102 Reykjavik, Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland, February 14 – 21, 2008
STAR Team:
First phase 2006: Beatriz Ramo, Theo Deutinger, Andreas Kofler
First phase 2007: Beatriz Ramo, Astrid Rovisco Suzano
Second phase 2008: Beatriz Ramo, Astrid Rovisco Suzano
Collaborators: Second phase 2008: Bernd Upmeyer (BOARD) 

The concentration of the given programme in one single building, one big plaza, and one park is used to achieve a dynamic and lively atmosphere in a very low-density area. A building emerging from the trees will be the landmark of Leinelä. The tower will be visible from Helsinki-Vantaa airport, from Tuusulanväylä and Lahdenväylä motorways, from the future Koivukylänväylä road, and from the new circle rail line and the existing train routes.
The tower helps to position Leinelä and to herald its strength.
It is positioned facing the airport and the trains, in order to minimize exposure to the north.
We use less than 10% of the available area, and we maintain the remainder as forest. The Tower will attain the most visibility with the minimum ground impact. A big urban plaza, an orthogonal park, and a big platform to access the trains will complete the master plan of the area.

We maintain the proposed road network but we suggest a different placement of certain buildings, reinforcing the central position of Leinelä Tower and with a better orientation to the sun.
Taking Leinelä Tower as the centre, the density of inhabitants decreases the closer we get to the forest. The density of trees will decrease the closer we get to the Plaza.

Direct access to Leinelä Tower from the station makes it a very interesting location not only for residents but also for offices, which will occupy the lower levels, while housing will be located in the upper floors. The residents will have the most privileged views on the area.
Leinelä Tower works as a small city. We have placed common functions such as a residents’ club, a gym with saunas, and a panoramic restaurant with a projection room along the tower. From the tower one has high-speed internet access. We want to encourage e-working, so we plan a number of meeting rooms to be used by students and workers. A number of special apartments with care facilities are planned for elderly people. An underground shuttle service will collect the inhabitants of Leinelä to take them to the station in winter.

The Urban Plaza in front of Leinelä Tower is diagonally split over two levels. The top level is placed at the height of the railway platforms, becoming a perfect display of culture and performances, and transforming each passenger into a spectator. This allows for the parallel use of the Plaza and 150% usage of the surface, as we can place the day nursery and parking garage under the elevated part. 
The slight inclination of the urban plaza (3%) allows the placement of cafes and markets; at the same time, it collects the people coming from Leinelä at ±0.00 and leads them smoothly to the station at +4.70.
Where the two levels of the Plaza meet, we placed a transportation hub for  people coming from the parking area: the final shuttle stop, the Plaza, the street, passengers on their way from/to the station, the taxi ranks and bus stops, and the residents of Leinelä Tower. The station is a continuation of the urban Plaza. The main entrance to the tower is positioned at this level so residents can access the station directly.
Following the Plaza we design the orthogonal park, where nature is planned in a grid, contrasting with the surrounding forest.
Running parallel to the Park and the Plaza and ending at the train platform a covered passage will protect the passengers and cyclists from Leinelä during the winter.
 

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Title: Leinelä Tower
Project name: New Leinelä Town, Europan 9
Date: June 2007
Type: International Open Competition
Organizer: Europan Suomi Finland
Participants: 25
Location: Leinelä, Vantaa, Finland
Site: Koivukylänväylä Street next to Helsinki – Vantaa airport
Programme + Surface: Park 8100 m², Day nursery 2120 m², Train platform 1995 m², Square 4270 m², Leinelä station 4100 m², Parking 6235 m², Mix-use Tower: Restaurant 445 m², housing 7035 m², gym 685 m², offices 2680 m². Study Area: 4 Ha
Status: Competition
Client: Leinelä Municipality
Budget: N/A
STAR Team: Beatriz Ramo, Joana Garcia de Oliveira, Astrid Rovisco Suzano, Marta Fernández Guardado; model: Xiana Mendez, Jean-Vianney Deleersnyder

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Title: PARK
Project name: Parking Garage Transferium Kralingse Zoom
Date: January – March 2006
Type: Commission VO Parking Garage
Location: Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Site: On top of the Metro Station Kralingse Zoom.
Program: First phase: 1439 parking lots. Second phase: 498 parking lots
Status: Stopped
Client: OBR, Rotterdam
Budget: N/A
STAR Team:  Beatriz Ramo, Theo Deutinger, Andreas Kofler, João Prates Ruivo
Consulting: Traffic Plan: Arjen Kamphuis – dS+V, Construction Engineering: dS+V