Rotondas and Walls

September 2009, Cadrete, Zaragoza, Spain

The assignment is peculiar. For more than 30 years the client enjoyed  an unimpeded view from his weekend house in the outskirts of the city. In order to help ensuring this for the future he bought some of the properties in front of his house.

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